Naruto: The Lost Ninja
by EdStargazer
Summary: Future AU Roughly 10 years after current manga. A scarred blue eyed blacksmith is found after many years of searching. He knows nothing of his past and his future looks bleak until some ninja come for him. Epilogue. Story Complete.
1. Lost is Found

T am not giving up on my main story, The Will Born in Fire but I am posting up the first chapter of another story that has been on my data stick for a few months now.  
As needed, I do not own Naruto, its characters or the fact that lately the manga should be named Sasuke due to the lack of use on its title character. The story idea is mine but I am willing to share if someone else gets inspired by this.

* * *

**Naruto: The Lost Ninja**

The ringing sound of a hammer hitting metal rang twice then a softened thump was heard. The ringing sounded twice again with another soft thump following. The daily sounds of the smithy were a comfort to the bald man wielding the heavy hammer. More blows followed before the man took a needed break. He set the half made sword into the coals to remain warm while he stepped out into the cool evening.

'Another day and I can have that sword finished. The daimyo will get his order on time at this rate. The Master Smith will be pleased.'

The smith looked out at the mountain valley that was his home. His badly scarred face relaxed as the evening breeze seemed to promise rain. He looked at the sleeping form of the ten-year-old apprentice and decided he would not need to wake his junior student to stoke the forge again tonight. The coals would keep the metal fine until morning. He lifted the boy and climbed a narrow stair into the loft. The scarred man placed the boy into his bed and lay down to get a few hours of needed sleep

* * *

Four shapes moved silently through the forest canopy. They had another lead to follow after too many years of dead ends. The mountains lay in the near distance and the local lord had approved their entry into the remote valley. By dusk the next day, they would know if this was another dead end or they had found the object of their search.

* * *

The scarred smith stood as the Master Smith inspected his work. His keen eye looked the length of the finished blade for flaws and saw none. He took a firm grip on the hilt and swung the blade at the target dummy. The blade cut into the wood to a satisfactory depth. The older man nodded again as he inspected the blade a second time. No blemish showed on the blade where it had made contact.

"Ken, you have accomplished your task. You have learned enough of the trade that you are no longer to be considered a student."

The older man bowed to the younger and presented a simple sash that would tell all who looked at him his status as a blacksmith and weapons maker. The embroidered name of his master was plainly visible on the end for anyone to see.

"Thank you, Master," the young man said.

"Ken-san, as you are no longer a student but rather a full smith, you are entitled to call me by my name; Kama."

"Thank you, Kama-sensei."

The older man smirked but he knew the younger man was trying to honor him so he let it pass.

Ken wrapped the sash around his waist and tied it in place so that the kanji of his name and his teacher's name were plainly visible as it hung.

"I have one more sword to complete to finish the daimyo's order. I will have it completed in two days if nothing happens."

Kama nodded briefly and turned to his remaining apprentice. "Lazy boy, you stood there the whole time and did nothing while the coal bin is only half full! Back to work!" The boy scuttled off before Kama could kick him and got back to work. Ken chuckled lightly as he turned to his own duties.

His hands worked in well-practiced motions as his thoughts wandered to other things. Now that he was a full smith, he would be getting a portion of the money earned by Kama for the contracts. In a year or possibly two, he would be able to think about his own smithy and perhaps marriage. The village had several girls already of age and something could be arranged for a price. He glanced into a water bucket to see his face.

One side was a jigsaw pattern of scars and stitches. The other had the look of smooth skin but was the melted looking heavy scar tissue of burns. The remains of a blonde eyebrow stood out amid the scars. Ken shaved his head to keep the patchy hair from looking worse. 'Who am I kidding? No father would want his son in law to look like I do without some heavy compensation in return, no matter how low ranking the man is.'

Ken lowered his head as he placed the glowing red metal against the anvil. His tears would hiss against the steel as they fell. Shaking off the feeling, Ken began his work as the three beat sound of the smith rang from in the building.

* * *

Four ninja stood in the open nearby. They could sense no trained chakra sources nearby and the genjutsu the leader had cast upon them kept all eyes from seeing the group. One raised a hand as a bug lit on the finger. He listened and looked to his comrades. "My bugs detected normal civilian chakra levels from all present. The smithy is the correct one our sources told us about but it seems we were mistaken in our assumption it would be our friend."

"His scent is not familiar to me. If this guy has been here for eight years I am sure it would the same as I remember. No one's scent changes that much. This guy is also a good six inches taller than our target. Even with a possible growth spurt that is a big difference."

The shortest of the group focused on the building as if looking through it. "Wait, Shino-kun, Kiba-kun. My eyes tell me something else entirely. The man's chakra coils are very highly developed. But you are correct, Shino. He only has a civilian level of chakra running through them. I am detecting some minor levels in his abdomen and forehead that might indicate seals. We should get closer and examine the man."

The leader looked at the younger woman, "Hinata, I know you want it to be him but we need to be sure."

"I know what I am seeing, Kurenai-san. I am not certain it is him, but that person was a ninja. It does bear investigating further."

The ninja all made hand signs and in their place stood four civilians. The team walked up to the smithy as Kurenai rang the gong on the post outside.

Kama came to the door, "Who is banging? This is the smithy of Kama, the son of Tsuba."

"Greetings, Kama-san, I am an agent of the daimyo in the Land of Fire. I have been instructed to search out people who might be able to work for him." Kurenai held up her authorization from the local lord. "I have permission to come here and interview your apprentice, Ken. If he is acceptable, we are further allowed to purchase his contract from you."

Kurenai smiled gently at the man before her. She had not lied at all to him. She merely told a slightly modified version of the truth. As a ninja of Konohakagure no Sato, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, she was an agent of the lord of the Land of Fire. If they found who they were seeking, they were able to use whatever legal means they could to bring the person back with them. In this case, it would be by buying the apprenticeship of the man, Ken.

"If only you had come 2 days ago," the man wailed. "Ken is no longer my apprentice. He has passed all guild requirements and received his sash as a peer. Ken! These foreigners wish to speak to you."

Ken put his work in the forge to remain warm and came out of the work area. His cerulean blue eyes focused on the four people outside. "I am Ken. Can I help you?"

Hinata gasped softly as she looked at the destroyed face. Even Kiba and Shino flinched slightly at the appearance. The lack of recognition in the blue eyes was nothing to Hinata. She knew those eyes. They still haunted her dreams at night.

Ken saw the reactions to his appearance all too often. He tried to mask the pain as Kurenai spoke to him.

"Ken, I am named Kurenai. I am an agent for the Daimyo of the Land of Fire. He is looking for people of certain talents and you had been brought to our attention. We wish to interview you and see if you are suitable for his needs."

Ken looked over at Kama but Kama shrugged, "You are your own man. You do not need my permission to speak with them."

"What would you like to know, Kurenai-san?" Ken asked.

"We would like to speak to you about your past and perform a pair of minor tests. If things go as planned, we would like you to come with us. Suitable compensation would of course be arranged."

Ken thought for a moment before responding. "I will allow it only as long as you are quick about it. I have duties to perform and a sword will be ruined if I am away from it for too long."

Kurenai nodded, "How it is you came to be in this valley, Ken?"

"I do not know. I woke up here nearly 8 years ago at the foot of the mountain. I was injured and badly burnt and cut. The locals thought I would die but I recovered somehow but badly scarred. I took an apprenticeship with Kama-san to pay back the debt I accrued to the daimyo for my care. My debts have been all paid in full and he informed me this morning my training as a smith is completed to his standards."

"Do you have any memory prior to your waking in the area?"

"I have no memory before this place," Ken replied.

"Interesting but it fits what information we do have. We have a simple test to perform now, Ken. If you could remove your shirt and let us examine your stomach."

"That is a strange request, Kurenai-san."

"I know but it is a necessary one for our task."

Ken shrugged and removed his shirt. Both Hinata and Kurenai had to fight back nosebleeds at the muscular build Ken's shirt had hidden. He was not bulky but he had larger muscles than most men they were accustomed to seeing due to his years of heavy labor. Several prominent scars ran onto his chest from his neck. Kurenai placed two fingers gently on either side of his abdomen and funneled chakra between them. Slowly, black lines of a seal appeared on the skin of Ken. Shino pulled out a parchment with a design on it and held it up beside the markings on Ken's stomach.

They matched.

"It IS him," Hinata whispered. "We found him."

Kurenai was about to stop funneling chakra when the black lines spread further out from the center. More designs appeared around the edges that did not match anything on the parchment.

"The primary seal matches, Kurenai-san. This is the person we are looking for," Shino said. "It appears additional seals were placed over the original but the purpose or reason is unknown."

Ken backed up once the people began talking about seals. He had no clue what was going on and wanted to get away from these strangers. "I do not think I wish to entertain the Land of Fire's offer. Please go."

Kama had already stepped back from the group. His eyes were focused on the newly revealed seal on Ken's stomach and he was making gestures to ward off evil. "What are you?" he shouted.

"Do not be alarmed, Kama-san," Shino spoke up. "It is nothing bad. He was once a ninja and the design there is what restrains his ability as one."

Kama looked wary but stopped with his warding gestures. "What did he do then; to have been branded so?"

Kurenai looked at Kama. "He did nothing that we are aware of. We have merely been told to retrieve him." She looked at Ken now. "Ken, you can either come with us willingly or by force. You were our friend once and will be again once we learn what has happened and free your mind. Please do not make us do something all of us would regret."

Ken sat down on the ground as all this information piled up on him. "Who … Who was I?"

Hinata spoke up now, tears running down her face. "You are Uzumaki Naruto, ninja of Konohakagure no Sato in the Land of Fire. You are the only son of the Yondaime Hokage. But most importantly, you are my husband."

Ken fainted.

* * *

Next Chapter: The Journey Home

* * *

Notes: This story is one of a dozen plot bunnies that have been dancing around my head since I began my other story The Will Born in Fire. Whenever I get writer's block on my story I pull out one of my ideas and add a little bit more to the kernel. This one has been nagging at me more of late due to the large numbers of banished Naruto stories I have seen. I find it highly doubtful that Konoha would banish Naruto and risk his being taken in by another village given what he contains. In this case, Naruto is not banished or a missing nin, merely missing in action and lost.

The idea for the look for Ken I got from MattK as he used the same look for a wounded Kim Possible in his 'Blood Bond' series. The story series is well worth reading by anyone who loves good writing and large scale adventure.


	2. Leaving and Arrival

**Chapter 2: Leaving and Arriving**

Hinata spoke up now. "You are Uzumaki Naruto, ninja of Konohakagure no Sato in the Land of Fire. You are the only son of the Yondaime Hokage. But most importantly, you are my husband."

Ken fainted.

Kiba laughed at the sudden turn of events. "Gee Hinata, normally it was YOU fainting not him."

Kurenai glared at Kiba. "One more word Kiba and you will not like the genjutsu you find yourself in. Am. I. Clear?"

Kiba paled and nodded quickly.

Kama was not a complete bumpkin. He realized now that these normal looking people were in fact dangerous ninja. While they were talking amongst themselves, he stepped into the foundry and partially closed the door. "Well since you found what you are looking for, I guess you can leave now. Please?"

They were interrupted by a groan. Ken was rubbing his face with his eyes closed. "Oh wow, that was some binge if I am outside on the ground. Master, you would not believe the weird dream I had. I dreamed you made me a full smith and then I got told I was a ninja and married to a beautiful woman."

"Um, Ken-san, you were not drinking and it did happen. Open your eyes."

Ken slowly opened his eyes to see a teary Hinata kneeling next to him with her hands clasped before her. "Um, Hi." He lamely said to her.

"Hi," Hinata slowly responded. "My love, I have missed you."

"I don't remember you. Please, what is your name?"

"Uzumaki Hinata."

"Hinata. So tell me, pretty Sunbeam. What happened? How did I get here?"

"We were married only a month when you disappeared on a routine delivery mission. All that is known is that you disappeared taking a message to the Land of Birds. Hunters found a battle site with a lot of blood and some equipment but no body or remains of a body."

"The rest can wait until we get him home, Hinata," Kurenai ordered. "We need to get moving as soon as possible. It would normally take us almost a week to get back and who knows how long that will be now with Naruto in this state."

"Ken."

"What?"

"My name is Ken. It is the only name I know and until I know any different it is still my name. I am not sure what is going on but don't take away what little stability I have left right now," Ken said quietly.

Hinata bit her lip to prevent herself from crying out to Ken but Kurenai nodded.

"Very well. Ken. That is the name we will use for now."

"Also, we cannot leave until the day after tomorrow at the earliest. I have a contract to finish for the daimyo and if nothing else, I will keep my word," Ken told them.

"TWO DAYS!" Kiba yelled out. "We need to head back to Konoha as soon as possible, not hang around here for two more days."

Ken narrowed his gaze at Kiba. "I will keep my word. If you try to take me before my work is finished, I will resist. Once my work here is completed, I will go without complaint."

"We agree, Ken-san," Kurenai spoke up before Kiba could protest again. "As Naruto, keeping your word was an important part of your character. It is obvious a few things about you are unchanged."

Ken nodded and merely turned away from the quartet of ninja to return to the forge.

Kiba rounded on Kurenai and got up in her face, "I have better things to do than to be stuck in this hick town. This mission was supposed to take us only a week or two. We have been out of the village for 2 weeks already. With Naruto in tow and not able to use chakra we are looking at another 2 maybe 3 weeks before we get home as it is. I have people waiting for me back in Konoha."

"We all do, Kiba. Do not forget we all have families now. You volunteered to come on this mission. None of us forced you to come," Kurenai hissed at Kiba.

Kiba just growled under his breath and turned away. He could not argue with Kurenai's point. He had volunteered to come along. He had only done it for Hinata's sake expecting this trip to be like all the others, a waste of time looking for a dead man. Now that the person had been found all of his efforts were for nothing. He would never have Hinata now.

Hinata and Shino watched Kiba stalk off in anger. Shino spoke in his normal quiet tone, "He does care for you greatly, Hinata."

"I know Shino, but my heart has never been his. It has always been Naruto's. I wish Kiba would accept that he will never be more than a friend," Hinata replied sadly.

* * *

Ken slowly worked on the sword. Pounding the metal into the shape he wanted was a calming thing for him. After the events so far today, he needed all the calm he could find. A ninja, those people said he had been a ninja. He had heard stories of what ninja could do. They were like magicians and killers wrapped into one. In the eight years Ken had lived in the valley, there had never been one seen there. Now he was supposed to have been one of these killers. Would that explain how he was disfigured so badly? Why his memory was empty before waking here?

The sounds in the forge ceased as Ken put the hammer down. He closed his eyes and tried to think of things before his arrival for the thousandth time. Nothing came to mind as always. Even thinking of the beautiful woman who was claiming to be his wife of all things provided no spark of remembrance.

'Just finish your work. Think about all of this after the sword is done. If you don't focus you will ruin it and have to start over.'

Ken hefted the heavy hammer once more and the three beat sounds rang out once more.

Kurenai was not planning on simply sitting around the forge. Kama told her there was a small traveler's inn in the nearby village. She dispatched Kiba and Shino to scout it out and get a pair of rooms to at least occupy them for an hour or two.

Hinata stood waiting until they men were out of sight before turning to Kurenai. "Well, they are gone. What was it you wished to discuss with me away from them?"

Kurenai smiled. Hinata was no slouch in seeing underneath things. "I wanted to know how you are holding up, Hinata."

"I'm fine, Kurenai," Hinata said quietly.

"Hinata, I've known you for 20 years now. I don't have to be a Hyuuga to see through a lie. I also miss you calling me Kurenai-sensei. I know things have changed between us since you lost Naruto, but I am still here for you. As a teacher, or even as a big sister if needed," Kurenai said just as quietly.

Hinata just nodded. The amount of caring Kurenai had for Hinata was evident in the old team coming with her on these missions. The anger she felt at one time had long dissipated but the closeness the two women had at one time had never recovered on Hinata's part.

"You should head down to the village, Kurenai. I'll be along around dusk."

Kurenai just nodded and left.

Hours later, Hinata stood silently in the shadows of the forge watching Ken work. She was amazed to find Naruto after all this time. But he was not her Naruto anymore. The face she could describe from memory was no longer his. His memories of her gone or sealed off But seeing his eyes had given her hope again; those soft sad cerulean blue eyes. In spite of everything else, those eyes had remained unchanged.

"You know, for a ninja you are quite noticeable, Hinata-san," Ken's voice called out.

Hinata smiled. She had made no effort to hide her presence. "I am as unnoticed as I wish to be, Ken-kun," she said in her soft voice. "Had I wished it, you would never know I was here."

Ken chuckled. It was hard to picture this small beautiful woman as a deadly ninja. But something nagged at him in her words. Ninja were magicians after all. He stopped his work to look at the small woman in the shadows. "Have you killed people?"

"Yes, I have, Ken-kun."

"How many?" He asked almost afraid to find out.

"I have killed 37 men and 4 women, Ken-kun."

Ken did not hear any pride or sorrow in her words. It was just a simple statement of fact like he would make when discussing his work. "Has Naruto killed?"

"Yes, Naruto-kun has killed as well. I do not know how many because we did not discuss such things."

Ken nodded and began hammering again.

At dusk, Ken turned to find Hinata had left and he never realized when she had slipped away.

* * *

Ken finished the sword in the time he had said it would take. Kama was satisfied with the quality and thanked Ken for honoring him by completing the contract. The older smith then walked Ken back to the forge.

"It will be quiet without you here, Ken. The boy will not be ready for heavy work for a few more years and I am not as young as I was. The daimyo will find other smiths to fulfill his contracts. But, if you ever find this whole ninja thing not working out, you know where the forge is and are welcome to return."

Ken smiled crookedly with his scared face. "Hmm, it almost sounds like you will miss me and might think well of me."

Kama frowned and grumbled, "No such thing. I merely am thinking of my business. You are good at your job and there are not many people out here to replace you."

Ken felt warmth in the older man's words. He was saying that Ken would be missed and not merely for his ability to work. The thought warmed the scarred man that he was held in high esteem by someone.

"One more thing, Ken," Kama called out as the younger man was heading up the stairs to pack his meager belongings. Kara stepped to the anvil and lifted the heavy hammer Ken used daily. "Take this with you. It is best suited for you. My lazy remaining apprentice is a scrawny boy and I have my own hammer. It would be of no use here and only gather dust. I hope you can find a use for it."

Ken bowed formally to Kama, "I would be honored to take it with me, Master."

Kama just nodded, then turned and walked back to the main house.

An hour before sunrise, Ken rose and finished his preparations to leave. His belongings all fit into a small pack, some spare clothes, grooming items and a number of small items he had made for himself from scrap metal. The hammer was wrapped in cloth and tied to his upper back in a roughly made rope harness. He woke the boy for a quiet goodbye and so the boy would be awake and not be yelled at for sleeping in for once. He stepped outside to find the four ninja waiting for him.

"I am ready," he said as he walked toward the road that led out of the mountain valley.

* * *

The trip was going much faster than the ninja had hoped it would. They were expecting Ken to travel at a normal civilian walking speed of about 3 miles per hour. Instead, Ken trotted along the road at twice that for hours without needing to stop. His leg strength and overall endurance was still close to that of a ninja who was not using chakra to augment their abilities.

The only concession to other travelers Ken made was to wear a light hat and veil to cover his scarred face. The military patrols he came upon would stop Ken often while the ninja remained in the trees or fields nearby. The ninja had left him with the papers stating he was traveling to a position in the Land of Fire and a quick removal of the veil would convince the soldiers of its necessity in his travels.

The travelers came to the gates of Konoha near the middle of the fifth day. Ken stared at the huge doors and swallowed nervously. Beyond these gates lay something he hoped for and dreaded at the same time, his past.

* * *

Next Chapter: Meetings and Revelations

* * *

This story idea would not let me go. Too many ideas swarmed for me to leave this one alone. I am working on the third part of the Invasion in The Will Born in Fire as well. Getting this out should let me focus on that and get it out soon

Review Notes: I had not stated it earlier. The time frame for this is roughly 10 years after current manga events in an alternate future. This makes Naruto/Ken at roughly 26 – 27 years old with Hinata being 26 – 27 as well. Kiba and Shino are the same with Kurenai being about 40.


	3. Meetings and Revelations

Chapter 3: Meetings and Revelations

_Last Time: _"_I am ready," Ken said as he walked toward the road that led out of the valley._

_The travelers came to the gates of Konoha near the middle of the fifth day. Ken stared at the huge doors and swallowed nervously. Beyond these gates lay something he hoped for and dreaded at the same time, his past._

* * *

"Team Kurenai returning from a retrieval mission. We have orders to report directly to the Tower with this man if we succeeded," Kurenai told the chunin on guard duty as she held out the copy of mission orders.

The chunin briefly glanced over the document, quickly reading the section that applied to returning with a successful mission and the proper seals were on the orders. He nodded and waved the team through into the village. His only thought on the matter was why was such an experienced team as this one escorting a civilian blacksmith? The hammer on the man's back was impressive but the hidden face worried the chunin. Still, orders were orders.

"He will have to leave his hammer here at the gate. Only licensed shinobi and craftsmen are allowed to hold onto weapons inside of Konoha. He can reclaim it later on if things check out."

Ken untied the rope harness on his hammer and handed it to the chunin. The younger man leaned sharply to one side under the weight but stood straight again quickly.

"The guest's name for the logbook, Kurenai-san?" the chunin asked.

"Ken. No family name," Kurenai replied as the group entered.

Ken looked around in wonder at the sights before him. The local daimyo's keep up in the valley was only a small holding in the Mountain Country. The first building he saw upon entering Konoha was larger than that building. They called this CITY a village? If that were the truth, what would the CITIES be like?

Ken just kept looking at the civilians, the buildings and the ninja moving along the rooftops. His gawking like a bumpkin had made the group pause twice in the first hundred yards into Konoha.

Hinata spoke up, "Ken-kun, you can look around later. We can give you a tour of Konoha later on but we need to continue on to the Hokage's Tower right now."

Ken nodded and began following Kurenai's lead toward the mountain and the large building with a kanji for Fire on it. Six carved faces stared down from the mountain behind it.

"Who are those faces?" he muttered.

His question drew a comment from Hinata. "Those are the faces of the Six Hokages of Konoha. Naruto's, your, father is the Fourth. The one with spiky hair."

"So the one on the far right would be the current Hokage? It looks unfinished."

Kiba laughed, "No, it's not unfinished."

Kurenai looked back, "Enough. Ken, please hold your questions for later. We are being watched and evaluated right now. Times are not good and paranoia is rampant. We will answer all your questions in time but for now, please remain silent."

Ken nodded and kept silent the remainder of the way to the large tower at the base of the mountain.

* * *

The team and Ken were ushered into the office of the Hokage and followed in by two cloaked mask wearing ninja who positioned themselves on either side of the doorway. The high backed chair of the Hokage slowly swung around to reveal a silver haired man wearing a mask over his lower face and an eye patch over his left eye. Two scar lines radiated out from under the patch forming an X shape that would meet near the center of the eye.

Kurenai spoke, "Hokage-sama. Our mission was a success. Recovery accomplished."

Hatake Kakashi leaned forward over the desk to try to see into the shadows the hood created. "Remove the hood please."

Ken slowly pulled back the hood to reveal his badly deformed face. Kakashi made no apparent reaction to Ken's appearance but the single eye of the Hokage moved back and forth to look into the cerulean blue of Ken's eyes.

"ANBU, you will not be needed at this time. You may leave," Kakashi said quietly. The two cloaked ninja vanished in tiny puffs of smoke as they teleported out of the office. Kakashi rose and walked around the desk and stood before Ken. "Naruto, they found you."

"Um, Hokage-sama, my name is Ken. I have no memory of this Naruto person people tell me I am."

Kakashi got a puzzled look and glanced over at Kurenai. "We have found seals that correspond with chakra and memory seals placed upon Naruto. Our best guess at this time is whatever happened to Naruto was deliberate and premeditated. Since he has no memory of his life as Naruto, we have agreed to call him by his current given name of Ken to help with his own peace of mind."

Kakashi nodded, "Then we shall use Ken." At that, Kakashi turned and returned to his seat behind the desk. "I am sure you have many questions, Ken. We can answer some but not all of them. We will need to have our best people examine these seals and see if anything can be done for you."

"Team Kurenai, you are dismissed. Hinata, if you could remain for now the rest of you may leave. I know your families are waiting." Kurenai, Shino and Kiba all bowed slightly and left the office through the door. Hinata waited next to Ken until the door closed.

Kakashi spoke again, "Ken, there are many questions that need to be answered before we can proceed. First, are you coming to us willingly?"

Ken nodded, "Yes, I am. Hinata here tells me we are married. Since I woke in that valley looking like this ..." Ken gestured at his face. "I was afraid that no one would even have me and then a beautiful woman tells me I am her missing husband. It sounds like something from a play but I wish to know for certain so I came."

Kakashi nodded. "Well, before we can bring you back officially, we need to do a few things. First, our doctors must do a medical exam to prove that you are truly Uzumaki Naruto. Then, a mild interrogation session to make sure you are telling us the truth as far as you know it and to examine those seals on your body. We have been in an open war for the past 5 years with the Sound village and there are precautions that must be followed."

"I understand, Hokage-sama. I will do what is needed," Ken replied.

"Good. Hinata, escort Ken to the hospital for a complete enemy contact exam while I have someone inform the interrogation division of what will be needed." Hinata nodded and motioned to Ken to leave. The pair left the office and Kakashi turned his chair to face back out the window.

'Why did they have to find him NOW? We are on the edge of civil war in Konoha as it is and Naruto could very well be the catalyst for the end of everything."

* * *

The hospital in Konoha bustled with activity but Hinata led Ken off to a separate entrance. "This is the special entrance for ninja returning from missions that have had enemy contact. Since you have been out of country for so long, it is best to treat your return as such. When the war with Sound flared up a few years ago, their leadership tried biological warfare against us."

"Things were nowhere near this complex up in the valley," Ken noted. Hinata nodded sadly but gestured for Ken to enter the building through a scanner. She followed once he was inside. An ANBU followed the pair inside and walked to the nurse on duty and spoke in a whisper. The nurse nodded and looked to Ken and Hinata.

"This is the person the Hokage wishes to have a complete physical on along with all return protocols?"

"Yes," Hinata replied. "His records would be archived under MIA #1138"

Ken looked at Hinata and spoke softly, "You seem too familiar with that number."

Hinata just nodded. She knew this was her Naruto but she did not trust her voice at the moment. The nurse gestured Ken forward and he entered the exam rooms with the door making a light thump as it closed behind him.

An hour later, Ken was finishing putting his cloak and hood back on. His arm hurt from multiple shots and he walked funny from the 'complete' exam. He felt enough blood had been drawn from him that he could walk past a hungry vampire and not even have the creature notice him.

"That was a pretty intensive exam," Ken commented. "So, now what?"

"I have to take you to the ANBU Headquarters; their interrogation."

Ken nodded. The pair walked back toward the Hokage Tower. Few pedestrians walked the street but they all seemed to be in a hurry. Ken glanced around but never slowed, "Those people in the masks are following us aren't they?"

"Yes, you are an unknown quantity right now and therefore suspected. Once you are back as one of us, they will not follow you."

"This place is bright, sunny and the day is warm, but there is a feeling of chill. Like there is a hammer waiting to crush it."

Hinata nodded, "The Sound's leader has pledged the complete destruction of Konoha and all who follow it. They have tried many things to destroy us, from biological warfare to planting double agents and terror attacks. The current war began with an open attack on the village itself and it caused a lot of trouble. He offered membership in Sound to all who wished it. Dozens of shinobi and kunoichi took him up on his offer because of who he was. Things have only gotten worse since then. Many feel the war is dragging out too long and whole clans are beginning to doubt the Hokage's tactics but the alternative of surrender is unacceptable. We need to find hope again"

Hinata paused and looked down. They had arrived back at the Tower and a masked ANBU waited for Ken there. "You need to go into the building without me, Ken. I have to get home and get a few things ready. When they are done with you, you'll be coming to live with me.

Ken watched Hinata turn and leap off.

* * *

Yamanaka Inoichi entered the interrogation room and looked at the scarred and melted face of the man before him. The remains of blonde eyebrows could still be seen amid the damage. 'So, this is supposed to be Naruto? He looks a mess but it is not on the outside that matters, but in the mind.'

"Ken-san, I'm Yamanaka Inoichi. I will be doing a preliminary mind scan jutsu on you to determine if you are a threat of any kind to Konoha. If you relax and cooperate, we will both get through this quickly and with no pain."

Ken nodded but a small bit of fear showed in his face. Inoichi realized that is was very similar to what any civilian would show when faced with ninja techniques. Inoichi continued, "We will need to secure you so that you do not thrash about during the process as fear becomes a larger factor for the person being scanned. You need to be conscious for this procedure to work properly."

Ken nodded again, "I understand. I will help in any way possible."

Inoichi moved around behind Ken and began.

* * *

In Ken's mindscape

Inoichi spent some time glancing through the memories of Ken. They were quite dull for the experienced mind walker but he did his duty. The memories all stopped at a certain age and Inoichi left the memories of Ken to go to the seat of his consciousness.

Inoichi stepped into what appeared to be a blacksmith forge contained within a large underground cistern. Light seemed to be coming from vent holes in a manhole cover in the roof of the open space. 'Strange, why would a forge be inside of a sewer? Mindscapes normally reflect the mind and experiences of the person but it is like the forge was built up within a previous framework. The differences are too great. It appears a good portion of his mind and memories were sealed off. So, now to find the seal itself.'

Inoichi walked the edge of the cistern until he came to a shallow passage on one part of the wall. The marks of a seal were plainly visible to his trained eye and he examined how it was represented in Ken's mind. The bricks blocking the passage were heavy looking and seemed able to withstand a lot of damage before breaking. Inoichi knew he had to see the underlying seal itself before he could make his final determination.

He focused his chakra against the wall itself so that the structure of the seal would be revealed to him. Slowly, lines appeared on the bricks as the seal itself came into view. The moment the seal was completely revealed, a backlash struck Inoichi and threw him out of Ken's mind.

* * *

Inoichi stumbled back from Ken as the ANBU in attendance all began to draw weapons but Ibiki and Inoichi both motioned for them to stand down. Inoichi looked up and reported, "Ken as he is now is not a threat to Konoha or any of our people. His mind and memories show no contact with the enemy but also nothing before the dates he gave. His memories prior to that are sealed away with the strongest seal I have even encountered. I need to report this to the Hokage."

Ibiki nodded and dismissed Inoichi. An aide released Ken who stretched and rubbed his head. "That felt weird," Ken stated.

Ibiki merely nodded, "You are free to go to any civilian areas of Konoha until such time as we can do something about that seal. Training grounds and official buildings will be off limits to you unless accompanied by an escort."

Ken nodded. He was familiar with restrictions in the daimyo's keep when he delivered finished goods working for Kama.

Ibiki gestured to a chunin. "This chunin will escort you out of the building and to the Uzumaki estate. We will be calling you back in the future, Ken. The memory seal on you will likely be removed at some point but it will take some preparation."

Ken followed the chunin through the streets. It was nearly dusk outside and the streets were nearly empty as people hurried home before curfew. The houses gave way to more open estates as they moved into what appeared to Ken as the more wealthy areas. A few ninja with white eyes similar to Hinata passed Ken and looked at him strangely but said nothing. The chunin had said nothing to Ken until they stopped at a gate in from of a small estate. A symbol on the door was of a white spiraled circle. _**(Note: The symbol normally on Naruto's left shoulder)**_ The chunin rang the bell and waited quietly until the gate was opened. Hinata stood in a casual kimono as the chunin bowed and left without another word.

Hinata smiled at Ken and bowed. "Welcome home, Ken-kun," she said in her quiet voice as she gestured for him to enter. Ken bit his lip nervously as he passed through the gateway which Hinata closed behind him.

"I had a spare bedroom prepared since I felt you would not wish to spend it with me as yet. The few things you brought are waiting for you there. If you wish to change that, you only need tell me. How did the exam go?"

"The guy almost as scarred as me said I was free to move about in all civilian areas alone but would need an escort in any training ground or official building. Um, do you think we could get back my hammer at some point?"

"I'll ask the groundskeeper to fetch it in the morning."

You, um, we have servants?"

Hinata smiles softly, "Only three, a maid, a groundskeeper and a cook. The Uzumaki family is small but not without some means. It would take some time to explain it all but rest assured, everyone is happy being here."

Ken nodded slowly. Servants would be something else for him to get used to. The surprises kept hitting Ken hard as so many things these people took for granted were a shock to him. "Do you think I could go to the room now? My head hurts from everything that happened earlier today. It has been a lot to go through. I would like to rest for a bit if I may?"

Hinata smiled and nodded before leading Ken to a small bedroom near the back of the house. Ken closed the door to the room behind him and lay down. He had barely rolled onto his side before he fell asleep.

* * *

Kakashi was tired. Another probing attack by Sound had been driven off with no injuries to Konoha forces. He was lucky the Nara clan had remained loyal and Shikaku and Shikamaru were two of the best strategists in the Elemental Countries. He noticed he had a few more reports to go over and he could get some rest. A knock on the door shattered that hope as he called for the person to come in.

Inoichi came into the office and bowed, "Hokage-sama, I have the preliminary report on Naruto."

"Well, go ahead."

"Naruto does indeed have a memory seal placed upon him. It is the strongest I have ever seen and it will take some time to find out how to remove it. He has had no contact with anyone considered an enemy of Konoha. The memories he does have in his head have not been tampered with so he is safe for now. As per your orders, he has access to civilian areas of the village. He was returned to the Uzumaki estate after interrogation." Inoichi passed over a report of the findings to Kakashi.

Kakashi did not even glance as he placed it to one side, "Now, Inoichi. What else did you learn that you did not dare put into the report?"

Inoichi looked down for a moment before looking back up, "I am not sure who is a spy for the enemy, Kakashi-sama. So this is for your ears only. The seal that is on Naruto. It is a modified Konoha memory seal."

* * *

Ken woke to a light tapping on the door to his room. He sat up and opened crusty eyes to answer, "Yes?"

A voice floated into the room, "Ken-sama, Lady Hinata asked me to wake you as it is already mid morning and she had some errands to run before lunch. She asked if I could show you to the bathhouse and where you can take care of your personal needs."

Ken stretched and heard a number of pops from his back as his muscles worked loose. He noticed he had not even gotten out of his clothes the night before. A slight sniff told him he did need to bathe quite badly. Ken opened the door and followed the maid to the bathhouse.

Close to noon, a clean Ken sat in the western style dining room waiting for Hinata to return from her errands. He fought back his nervousness as the minutes crept past. Finally, Hinata entered with a few bags and smiled warmly at Ken. "I see you are finally up. You looked like you needed sleep, so I let you sleep through breakfast and got Suki to wake in time to get ready for lunch."

"What were you doing all morning?" Ken asked.

"Shopping of course. We cannot have you going around Konoha looking like a bumpkin. I ordered a few kimonos for you and picked up some basic clothing for exercise."

Suki came in at the mention of her name with dishes and proceeded to set the table as Hinata found a seat near one end of the table.

Before Ken could protest anything, a sound in the hall caught his attention, a step followed by a light thump. The sound repeated and got closer. Then a middle aged blonde woman with slightly graying blonde hair in two low ponytails entered the room. She was holding a cane and seemed to be favoring one leg. She made her way in and looked at Ken who stood up and bowed to her.

She pulled Ken into a bone crushing hug and he could hear her voice catch as she spoke. "So, she really did finally find you, Naruto. I know she said you are going by Ken for now but to me, you will always be Naruto. I have missed you, gaki."

Ken lightly hugged in return but was still confused, "I would have missed you too, but I don't remember anything from here. Please, what is your name?"

She smiled, "My name is Tsunade, but you gaki, always called me baa-chan. It used to bother me a lot but the past few years it is something that I have missed."

Tsunade released Ken from the hug and stumbled back until he steadied her. She sat heavily on one of the chairs. Ken could immediately see why they ate in this room as low chairs would be difficult for the blonde woman.

"An old war wound," Tsunade replied Ken's unasked question. "There is a lot going on that you have no idea about, gaki. You are being tossed into the deep end and we hope you can swim."

Once more Ken found himself at a loss when a child's voice rang out in the room and a blonde streak ran past him, "MOMMY! You're home!"

* * *

Next Chapter: Family Stories

End Notes: This is a serious semi-dark future AU in case anyone has not guessed that so far. Kakashi is Sixth Hokage. Tsunade is crippled. A few hints of what is going on have been tossed out there and no one is exactly who they were before Naruto disappeared. And who is this child calling Hinata 'Mommy'? Answers will be coming

Other Stories: For those of you hoping for more of Captured, you will have to wait another month or so. I am going to pour my effort into finishing the rest of The Will Born in Fire to my preplanned stopping point of part 1 and I hope to have that completed before Christmas. Captured is my 3rd story in terms of choosing to write on at this time. The story is a new rewrite of history and I do not want to mix myself up between that and TWBIF. I plotted out The Lost Ninja for nearly 20 chapters already so it will be my primary once I get TWBIF complete and alternate writing of Captured and The Lost Ninja with planned posting of once a month on each story.

I plan to post the next TWBIF chapter by Friday, muse willing.


	4. Family Issues Part 1

Chapter 4: Family Issues

"MOMMY! You're home!" shouted the blonde streak that ran into Hinata. The chair Hinata was sitting in slid back a few inches from the impact. Hinata was smiling widely as she bent over to hug the child and lift the small girl into her lap. The girl wrapped her arms around Hinata' neck and squeezed until Hinata had to gasp for air.

"Did you behave while you were staying with Tsunade-sama?" Hinata asked the child.

The girl's head quickly nodded like a child who has something to hide. Hinata glanced at Tsunade who smirked and nodded slightly.

Ken smiled briefly at the scene until the girl relaxed her hold on Hinata and looked back at him.

The girl hopped off of Hinata's lap faced Ken. She straightened out her kimono then bowed and said, "Good Morning Sir. Welcome to the Uzumaki household. I am Uzumaki Kushina."

Ken just stared at the child. The girl looked like a small version of Hinata with 2 major differences. Her hair was a sun yellow and her all white eyes were tinged in blue where her mother's had hints of lavender.

After Ken had stood quietly in shock for over a minute, Kushina turned to her mother and said in a small voice, "Did I do it right, Mommy? He hasn't said anything back."

"You did it exactly right, sweetie. Ken is just surprised to meet you." Hinata looked up at Ken next. "Ken, Kushina is Naruto's daughter. She was named after Naruto's mother; her grandmother."

Ken was getting over his shock and bowed back to the girl, "I am called Ken. I had another name once but I don't remember anything about it."

Kushina looked carefully at Ken then asked, "Did it hurt bad when you got those owies on your face?"

Hinata paled while Tsunade laughed out loud. "She is definitely Naruto's daughter with that sense of tact."

Ken smiled wryly but answered Kushina, "I don't remember if it hurt or not. I don't have those memories either."

Kushina just smiled and said OK before turning back to her mother. "'Zashi-kun doesn't want to stop training with Grandfather again, Mommy. Grandfather said something about having to bill you for his lunch one of these days."

"Zashi?" Ken asked.

"Kushina's younger twin brother by a half hour brother; Uzumaki Hizashi. He was named after my uncle, my father's twin brother"

"Twins. Naruto had twins?"

Hinata got an amused look on her face, "No, 'I' had twins." Hinata's face darkened after that, "He disappeared before he even knew they were coming. They were honeymoon babies." She bit her lip to prevent tears from falling. "The twins will be 7 and a half soon. I got lucky with the way things turned out. My original clan decided to be civil and help out some. Plus, after Tsunade-sama stepped down as Hokage, she came to live with her favorite niece and nephew."

"Not by blood of course, but in the heart," Tsunade added at Ken's confused glance at her.

Ken sat down and looked back at Hinata and Kushina. The blows just kept on coming. It seems that Naruto had a much better life than Ken did. All the things he had ever wanted were waiting here for him; a wife, a family, a past. But they all belonged to someone else; someone locked within him. The cost of getting those things could be his own destruction.

* * *

Inoichi was rummaging through scroll after scroll of seals within the ANBU library. He had found the original memory seal easily enough. The parts added to it seemed to remind him of something he had only glanced at once many years before. The closest he had come so far was similar to what he was looking for but the source disturbed him. It was a mention of a prototype seal found amid papers recovered from Orochimaru's lab when the dead Snake Sannin had fled Konoha for good. Inoichi headed to Ibiki's office to gain access to the Forbidden Section of the library to look at the original notes.

* * *

Hinata headed out with Kushina to check on her missing son but Tsunade took Ken by the arm and pulled him into a small room. He was surprised to find it was a medical exam room.

"What is all this for? They gave me a check up yesterday," he asked.

"Hush, gaki. That was for basic health. The medics there are not specialists like me. I am the one who also takes care of the twin's health needs. Now, I am going to check you out up to my standards. Mainly a basic scan and see if I can do anything about your scarring. I am not great at cosmetic work but there are a few tricks I picked up over the decades."

Ken nodded and just went along with the older blonde. He lay on the table while she ran a glowing hand over his body. He listened to her mutter at she was recording some notes as she went.

"Muscular mass appears normal. Well developed above average range for a shinobi but fits job description for a smith. Chakra coils are equivalent to that of a high jonin but show signs of having been larger in the past. This also fits due to the lack of chakra circulation for the past 8 years."

Tsunade moved up to Ken's face and moved her hand much slower now.

"Facial scarring is mainly cosmetic. It seems to have been done mainly to obscure and distort facial features. Hmm, interesting. Residual marks previously called 'whiskers' seem absent. Follow up on that at a later time. Burn scars are deeper as on that side of the face and indicate damage caused by fire jutsu. The sudden stop of the scarring would indicate that as well due to the collar of Naruto's flame retardant uniform ending near that point. Heavy burn scar tissue could be debrided to reduce appearance but not eliminated entirely without heavy surgery or regeneration of tissues."

Tsunade stepped back at that point and shut off her recording. "All done, Ken"

"So?"

"Well, I can tell you are healthy as a horse. You're only real difficulty physically is the facial scarring you have. I can lighten up the cut scars slightly but they will still be noticeable. For the burns I can use chakra to thin down the scar tissue somewhat."

Ken nodded slowly. He could go from hideous to just really ugly.

"Hinata said you were Hokage and your face is on the mountain there. I guess it must have been something pretty bad to make you crippled like that."

Tsunade nodded slowly, "Yes, it was pretty bad." She sat on a chair in the office and rolled up the leg of her pants. Her lower leg had been amputated just below the knee and she wore a prosthetic limb. "I'll tell you about it this evening when the kids are in bed and I can have a few drinks. A lot has happened in Konoha the past 8 years."

Ken heard the door chime sound and with Tsunade headed for the front gate. The maid had beaten them to the door and a chunin was waiting in the foyer.

"Tsunade-sama, Ken-san, the Hokage has requested Ken's presence at his earliest convenience."

"I am doing nothing so I shall be along directly," Ken told the chunin.

"I'll escort Ken to Kakashi," Tsunade offered. "Tell him we will be there shortly."

The chunin bowed and left while Tsunade turned to get her green smock with the kanji for 'Gamble' on the back. She tossed Ken his hooded cloak and said, "Come on Ken. I'll give you the nickel tour of Konoha."

"But doesn't Hokage Kakashi wish to see me right away?" Ken asked.

"Yup, that is why he is going to wait a couple of hours. An old joke, trust me on it."

* * *

Ken walked along with Tsunade as the lady pointed out various points of interest of Konoha. The entire time people greeted Tsunade politely but few said anything beyond greetings. He was glad for his hood as it allowed him to hide his scarred appearance. A few wary looks were cast his way but once people saw he was with Tsunade few said anything at all about it. The town had an air that put Ken on edge. Like earlier, it was a warm sunny day but the feeling he got from the people was one of paranoia.

Two hours after receiving the message from the chunin, Ken and Tsunade entered Kakashi's office. Kakashi looked at Tsunade with a raised eyebrow. "I thought he was going to be here hours ago."

Tsunade grinned, "We were on our way here but Ken forgot the way so we just wandered along the road of life until we found the place."

Kakashi sighed softly as Tsunade burst out laughing. "Did I really sound that lame, years ago?"

"Yup, you did. I knew by what the chunin said it was not a major thing or the wording would have been different." Tsunade sat uninvited but Kakashi said nothing. Her sitting was one of the rights he had given her after taking office.

Kakashi looked at Ken, "We will need a few days to get ready to remove the memory seal on you first. We plan on leaving the chakra seal in place until we know if the unsealing has gone well. But, for now, do you have any requests or needs?"

Ken looked down then at Kakashi, "Well, if possible, I would like to see if I can have access to a forge for a few hours. It helps me relax to work on something. I get antsy just sitting around doing nothing. Even making plain nails would be something. I would also need to get my personal hammer out of impound at the gate."

Kakashi looked surprised in spite of his mask. "That is not a normal request but I'll have to see what can be done about that."

Tsunade spoke up, "The Hyuuga had one a few decades ago but I am not sure if they still have it. Back during the Third War they made a lot of their own weapons."

Kakashi nodded, "You have closer ties with Hiashi than I do, Tsunade. Perhaps you could approach the Hyuuga for Ken?"

"Oh, sure," Tsunade said sarcastically. "That will be a pile of laughs. Better give me a formal request letter so they do not get all high and mighty on me and consider it a favor I owe them. Since the Uzumaki are an associated family to the Hyuuga, it should not be a major issue but you never know."

A brief conversation with the secretary got Ken a letter asking the Hyuuga if Ken could access their old forge, if it was useable.

"So, anything else you need help with right now, Ken?" Kakashi asked. Before Ken could say anything else, the sound of explosions was heard. Kakashi turned to see smoke rising from the market district. "Damn, another bombing," he muttered.

"Tsunade, please take Ken back to the Uzumaki compound. Since he has just arrived, I don't want people to think he had something to do with this."

Tsunade nodded and gestured to Ken, who followed her out of the office as people began to stream in as they left.

* * *

Tsunade got Ken home without incident. Few people had remained on the streets but all looked about nervously. Ken now understood the sense of paranoia he had felt earlier in the day. "Is it always like this?" he asked Tsunade.

Tsunade pulled out a large bottle of sake from a cabinet in the sitting room. She did not wait for it to warm as she drank several dishes of the rice wine before speaking.

"Not always. Things have been on an increase the past year. The attacks, coupled with the increased activity from Sound, have been very bad for morale. People are scared, Ken. This war with the Sound is unlike any fought between hidden villages before. It would be best if I told you the background of it."

"Technically, we have been at war with the Sound Village for 14 years, since they attacked us during a Chunin Exam. The war went to a cold state when Orochimaru was killed 11 years ago by Uchiha Sasuke. We never made any kind of peace but neither side was going out of its way to attack one another outside of teams running into one another. That changed 5 years ago."

* * *

Tsunade's Story

"Tsunade-sama, we are having an incident at the Eastern Gate. Uchiha Sasuke is standing there calling out for you!" said a messenger.

Tsunade growled as she crushed the sake cup. Things had been sliding for the aged Sannin since her 'little brother' had disappeared 3 years earlier. Missions to Konoha had been slowly dropping as a revitalized Sound Village had been growing in the Rice Country. Rumors and hearsay had one man behind the Sound's re-emergence. Now that man was at her village's gates.

Alarms sounded throughout Konoha as Tsunade walked toward the Eastern Gate. Ninja came to alert and arrayed themselves near the gates.

Tsunade arrived at the open gate to see Sasuke standing just beyond the entrance; his arms crossed over his chest. His team 'Hawk' was standing behind him and the gate guard lay dead in the dirt.

"I assume from the state of my guards you are not here to surrender yourself, Uchiha?" Tsunade growled out.

"Hardly, I am here to issue my ultimatum, Old Woman. In 1 month, the Sound will commence open warfare on this worthless village unless it surrenders to me and my sound Village. I am offering to any Konoha ninja the opportunity to join my village before hostilities commence. Those that do not; will die."

Tsunade frowned and replied, "Well, why don't I just make things easy on both villages and get rid of your traitorous hide right now?" She rushed forward to strike at the smirking Sasuke. Ninja moved to support her when something unexpected happened. The ANBU that moved to help Tsunade were grabbed by a number of other masked ninja who brutally slew the elite ninja. The chunin and jonin were then blocked by the masked traitors from aiding their leader.

"Root," one jonin muttered

Sasuke pulled out his sword Grass Cutter and waited for Tsunade's attack. He had taken possession of the sword along with the Sound Village after the fall of Akatsuki. A muttered jutsu and the blade flashed with a corona of electricity. He sidestepped her first attack and struck without mercy. His Sharingan eyes telling him exactly where and when to strike he was swinging his sword before Tsunade had even completed her attack.

The electrified blade flashed down at her trailing leg slicing completely through the calf and the shin bones; severing the limb 4 inches below the knee. The current in the blade cauterized the wound as it cut. Tsunade fell forward into the dirt as she howled in pain. A shout of anger rose from within the walls as ninja surged to help their fallen leader. The sword was placed under her chin to halt any further action by the Konoha forces

"Now, none of you would want to be responsible for Tsunade's death, now would you?" Sasuke chuckled with a laugh that sounded too much like Orochimaru's. "I just wanted to have a little chat with your leader uninterrupted."

Tsunade glared up with teeth clenched in pain as Sasuke continued. "Your best teams are all out of Konoha on 'important' missions that I set up. The ambushes waiting for them should deal with them nicely. Your precious Naruto is already lost to you. And to make things so much sweeter, one of your own advisors sold you out."

An old man hobbled his way out the gate surrounded by the masked ninja of Root. "Danzo," Tsunade hissed.

"You seem surprised, Tsunade-hime. I warned you for many years that Konoha should be more aggressive in its policies but first that fool Hiruzen and then you refused to heed my advice. Now, I am taking my Root and allowing the diseased tree of Konoha to fall so something better can grow in its place."

"A moment before we go, Danzo," Sasuke interrupted. "I must make one small change to our agreement." Before Danzo could reply, Sasuke struck swiftly and impaled the man on his sword.

"You think I could forget that you ordered the destruction of the Uchiha? The Sandaime's teammates may have slid away from my grasp due to old age but you were the force behind the killings. Oh yes, Itachi told me before he died what happened. Orochimaru's notes confirmed it. Uchiha's do not forget those who go against them, Danzo."

Sasuke pulled the sword from Danzo's gut and swiftly beheaded the man.

"Root, to me!" Sasuke called out. The masked Root ninja all pulled out of Konoha and formed up behind Sasuke. "Remember Konoha. One month to come to me and grovel for your lives or die." Sasuke laughed as he left with Tsunade still lying in the dirt of the gateway.

* * *

"With that, the traitor left with a good portion of our ANBU destroyed or traitor. Danzo had infiltrated too many of his own people into our elite. To make things worse, not all of the Root left Konoha that day. Since we did not know the extent of his organization, he left many traitors in place. They continue to remind us they are here by terror attacks. Only half of our best teams returned from the ambushes the Uchiha had set them up on. So many good ninja lost because we were careless. Konoha's strength today is only half of what it was when Naruto was lost. We are losing the war and people are giving up. There are more missing ninja from Konoha in the past 5 years than the entire history of the village before it. Some have gone to Sound, others fled or just vanished. We even stopped adding names to the Memorial Stone because it hurts morale."

"After I lost my leg, I couldn't be Hokage any longer. Kakashi was the best ninja we had left so the clans made him Hokage. He didn't want the job and it still shows. Oh, he gets things done but his heart is not in it."

Tsunade tossed the sake dish aside and drank straight from the bottle.

"So many gone. Shizune killed by Root the day they left. She was found dead in my office along with my precious Ton Ton. Sakura missing. Team Gai lived through their ambush but Neji was blinded. Team Asuma lost Ino and Choji. Izumo. Kotetsu. So many gone."

Ken did not know what to say as Tsunade wept in her seat. A hand grazed his shoulder and he turned to see Hinata standing there. Standing next to her were Kushina and a dark haired boy her size that he assumed would be Hizashi.

Hinata turned to the children, "Aunt Tsunade needs hugs."

Both children went up to the old woman and crawled into her lap. Tsunade paused in her tears to wrap an arm around each child as they both wrapped theirs around her. Within in a few minutes, Tsunade had stopped crying.

"It was not losing her leg that broke, Tsunade. It was losing Shizune," Hinata whispered in Ken's ear. "Shizune was like a daughter to Tsunade. We moved her in here with us because she loved Naruto so much and his children were the light of her life. They always seemed to have Naruto's magic touch to bring happiness to people they are around."

Once the twins had gotten Tsunade calmed down, they remained on her lap for a few more minutes. Eventually, the boy slid down and walked over to Ken with slightly narrowed eyes.

The blue tinged white eyes were not as welcoming as Kushina. "Did you make Aunt Tsunade cry?"

"Hizashi!" Hinata exclaimed. Ken held up a hand to her.

"No, she was telling me about how she lost her leg. It was a terrible thing and it made her cry."

Hizashi kept staring at Ken for a few more seconds before nodding. "You're not lying about that."

"Oh? You can tell such things?" Ken asked slightly amused.

"Yes, Grandfather has been teaching me many things. He said if Aunt Hanabi does not have any children, I would become the Hyuuga heir so I must be ready."

Ken smiled at Hinata, "A very serious boy, isn't he?"

Hinata blushed lightly and smiled back, "Serious yes, but at least he still minds his mother." She looked back to Hizashi, "Go and get ready for dinner. We are going to the Hyuuga for dinner and you know that your grandfather likes clean children. You were training all day and it shows."

Hizashi nodded and walked off as if he owned the house.

Hinata rubbed her forehead, "I swear I think that boy channels the old Neji. Anyway, you need to get cleaned up as well Ken. Peasant chic might work for Tsunade but I do not think it would go over too well for you."

Ken was a little worried as he got changed. For the second time, he was about to have a first meeting with the father in law.

* * *

Next Chapter: Family Issues Part 2

* * *

End Notes: A few fates revealed along with the main villain, of course it was Sasuke. The guy IS the main villain of Naruto after all. Not sure if anyone predicted that Root would be the ones to turn traitor. More with them later on as the depths of their activity are revealed.

I am going to have the next chapter of The Lost Ninja out quickly as I am pulling in an old story I had written a year ago but never posted; the story of Naruto and Hinata getting together.

For Hizashi, I am picturing the personality of Samurai Jack. Very serious when he needs to be but also kind and caring as well. More of less a Hyugga-fied Naruto. Kushina is a blonde mini me version of Hinata who got a much more caring childhood so is not as painfully shy.

* * *

Reviewer Notes: The civil war and its reasons will be addressed in coming chapters.

Hinata is not the same old Hinata. She is now a strong woman who was left as a single mom. As a single dad I know taking care of a kid is a tough proposition and she had twins. How she knows Naruto was still alive when so many had given up hope will be revealed as well.


	5. Family Issues Part 2

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Note, I posted chapter 4 a couple days ago so if you have not read that yet, go read it. Chapter 6 will be out in a couple more days due to a lot of pre-writing by incorporating an unpublished story of mine as a tale within the tale.

**Family Issues, Part 2**

Ken was certainly not at ease in the kimono he was wearing as he followed Hinata and the twins through the gate into the Hyuuga compound. He would rather have stayed behind with the sleeping Tsunade but this was a family dinner. The Uzumaki and the Hyuuga shared a common wall and the gate was merely a formality and normally left open. The sole guard nodded to them as the family walked past. Hizashi just looked straight ahead while Kushina waved to the guard. Ken nodded in return to the guard who did not even flinch at Ken's appearance.

Hinata made a brief knock on the doorframe of the main house then mentally counted to three before sliding it open and allowing the children and Ken to enter. Ken just looked around at the fine details of the foyer. Hinata tapped his arm lightly to snap him out of his stare and he followed her and the children again.

'I feel so out of place here,' Ken thought. 'Hinata and the kids are used to this sort of thing but all I know is how to pound metal and not get too caught up on formality when a higher ranking person came to Kama's forge.'

The family walked into the dining area and stopped. Hyuuga Hiashi sat looking at a scroll when the group came in but he put it to the side and stood. The children both walked up and stopped two paces from him and bowed. "Good Evening, Grandfather," they said in unison.

Hiashi bowed back just as correctly, "Welcome, Grandchildren." After another five seconds, he went to one knee and held his arms open. The twins ran in to hug him and his arms wrapped around them. Ken could not help but be touched by the actions of a man for his grandchildren. His heart fluttered as he knew he wanted hugs like that for himself.

Hinata took Ken's hand and squeezed it as his face had gotten a sad look. "Don't worry, Ken. Once the memory seal is gone we can tell them everything. Memory seals are tricky things and better to keep it quiet for now and not get their hopes up that their father is home."

Hiashi finished hugging the children and moved to stand in front of Ken and Hinata. "Welcome, Ken. It is good to see you once more, even if you don't remember it."

Ken bowed, "I am honored to be allowed into your house, Hyuuga-sama."

The Hyuuga leader smiled wryly and returned the proper bow, "Ken, you may call me Hiashi. After my talk with Hinata this afternoon, we can wait on the rest for the proper times and when small ears are not eavesdropping."

The twins both looked at the plates on the table as if they were the most fascinating items in creation but they were already busted.

"Hokage-sama said it would be several days before they could attempt anything. Tsunade-sama also said she could do something about lessening my burns as well."

Hiashi nodded and motioned for Hinata and Ken to sit. Dinner was a quiet affair. The twins were remarkably well behaved for seven year olds. Ken slowly relaxed as the evening went on, even to the point of taking a single dish of sake after dinner.

Hiashi chuckled as he watched Ken and Hinata. It was almost as if their personalities had reversed from their early teen years. Ken, nee Naruto, was painfully shy during the entire dinner while Hinata had been talking in a respectful tone but reeling off tales of the twins and of Naruto. The twins just sat with red faces through most of Hinata's stories.

Once dinner was concluded, the adults moved off to a smaller room while the twins got to go into a play room to burn off some of the extra energy all seven year olds seems to accumulate.

Ken was nervous once more. The stories of deeds he was supposed to have done in his past life disturbed him. Many were humorous but one major thing bothered him.

"Um, Hinata, I know this sounds strange and all, but how did someone like you end up with someone like Naruto, um, well me?"

"Well, for years I had an infatuation with Naruto. I never had the courage to act on it before you, he, left on his training mission with Jiraiya-sama. Once he returned, I was still shy but after the business with Akatsuki, I knew I needed to do something. It began on my 16th birthday.

* * *

Hinata's Story

Hinata bowed properly as the last of the party guests filed out of the Hyuuga estate. Her 16th birthday party had been a huge success. The heir to the most powerful clan in Konoha had come of age. Most of the upper echelon of Konoha's ruling class had naturally been in attendance. The rest of the official guests had included Hyuuga family members, some higher ranked clan heads and a few lesser nobles of the Fire Country.

Her circle of friends, the balance of the so-called Konoha 11 and their jonin instructors, had all been there at her invitation. Her father had allowed even her invitation to Naruto. The four years since her first Chunnin exam had been fairly good for her relationship with her father. More specifically, the change began after Neji's loss to Naruto in the finals and Hiashi's revelation about his brother's death to the boy. Hinata's steady improvement since that time had not gone unnoticed by Hiashi. At the current time she was an upper level Chunnin and had been suggested for a position with ANBU. Hinata had reluctantly turned down that position in favor of more formal training in the methods of heading the House in the coming years. She smiled recalling the moment Naruto had entered.

Naruto strode into the hall and stopped at the receiving line. Hinata had spared a glance down at him in between greeting her guests as they moved down the line. Naruto was wearing a very formal gray kimono emblazoned with a pattern of small orange frogs. His hitae-ate was slung around his neck the way it had been during the Third's funeral and his hair actually had a tamed look to it. His posture was erect and proper but somehow relaxed as if he had done this before.

'Most likely Jiraiya had spent some effort on his manners during his apprenticeship' Hinata thought.

When it was Naruto's turn to be received, he bowed correctly first to Hiashi then to Hinata. "Hyuuga-sama, Hinata-sama, Thank you for allowing me to come to your birthday party. I was greatly honored with the invitation."

Hiashi had bowed back just as correctly "Your manners are better than I had expected Naruto-san. It seems being apprenticed to a Sannin has been good for you. Please, call me Hiashi as we are both students of the same teacher."

Naruto smiled "Thank you Hiashi-sama. During my 3 years with Jiraiya-sensei, it was necessary to meet many daimyos and clan leaders as they valued his advice on important matters and as his apprentice I was at his side. I needed to be seen as a valued apprentice and not disgrace him." _'It's not like that the old coot didn't embarrass himself often enough. Man, this speaking formally sucks.' _Naruto thought.

Hiashi smiled slightly and nodded "Perhaps in the future, we could discuss a few of Jiraiya-sensei's more colorful attributes, Naruto-san. I am sure you have some stories as livid as my own. Studying under the man was an interesting experience and I know my time with him was well spent."

Both Naruto and Hinata's eyes widened slightly at that comment and Naruto coughed slightly to cover his shock "I look forward to that, Hiashi-sama" Naruto said clearly flustered. Apparently Jiraiya had never mentioned his other genin students beyond having the Fourth. He then bowed again and moved off into the hall.

Her father interrupted Hinata's memories. "Daughter, come to my office at nine tomorrow morning. We have a few things that we need to discuss about your future."

"Hai, Father" Hinata replied and watched her father walk down the hall toward his rooms.

Promptly at nine, Hinata was sitting in her father's office as he entered. He sat behind his desk and looked over at Hinata. "Until now, you have been heir by birthright only. Within a year, you will be formally invested as the Heir to the Hyuuga clan. I must admit many times in the past I have been tempted to favor your sister, Hanabi, over you. I felt that with the possibility of losing your status you would develop into the kind of person the clan would want as an heir. It seems that method was not the one that worked. Instead it was through the encouragement of your friends that has brought us to this point."

"It seems my older daughter took longer to bloom than the younger and it took a special person to help in that. I am not blind, daughter. I am well aware of your childhood infatuation with Naruto-san as well as your following him. I will admit that he is not a model ninja but his desire to do better, improve and become stronger was one that you took upon yourself and you have benefited from that. Several branch house elders commented favorably on his manners last night. They had all expected the crass prankster we all know he can be and were very pleasantly surprised at the well-mannered young man who attended your party."

"Now onto the real business at hand. As you know, the head of the house is expected to continue the line. You on the other hand are not married and are no longer betrothed to anyone. Therefore, before your formal investiture as head of the clan, you must find a suitable man and wed, or lose your status as heir in favor of your sister. That is a rule of the clan, not one of my own and tradition will not bend that much in your favor, daughter. Also, as you are of legal age, you are entitled to pick a suitable man from a number of choices that the clan has deemed worthy." Hiashi pulled a small scroll from his sleeve and set it on the desk. "It has been a difficult search for the names on that scroll, Hinata. I have had the clan archivists and genealogists looking through all the files we have on Konoha bloodlines and clans."

"There are currently no worthwhile clan members sufficiently distant from you to wed and the sons of many local feudal lords are not acceptable to me. To be honest, daughter, the great ninja war that ended 17 years ago and the Kyuubi attack 16 years ago have left many clans and families broken. We Hyuuga were not so bad off and continued to remain the strongest in Konoha. Actually, many of the ninja clans then remaining in Konoha barely could classify as families based upon membership and power. Things were that bad for our village. You and your friends are among the first of the wave of children born after the wars and you are the first of the newest heirs to come of age. Many clans have used adoption, betrothal and early marriages to rebuild and prevent dying out."

"We of the Hyuuga are renowned for our wealth, power and bloodline so we rarely engage in the practice of betrothal and are able to pick the best from those available to become Hyuuga. We prefer to keep the bloodline pure when possible but there are times like now that we must look outside the clan for marriage. When doing this we not only look at family status but also techniques that could be made ours. Also, a person's accomplishments are taken into consideration. Currently, the clan elders have left a short list of 9 young men that could be considered acceptable to the Hyuuga clan."

Hinata picked up the scroll from the desk and opened it slightly.

"All are younger than you but by no more than 2 years and all are from good clans. If the clan were to choose for you politically the young man from that list to be chosen would be the nephew of the daimyo of the Land of Fire. As your father, however, I would not recommend him as he is a fop and has never done a day's work in his life. As your clan head, I am required to add him. Do you have any questions right now daughter?"

Hinata glanced down at the scroll in her hand. In her heart she knew her Naruto-kun would no be on that list. But one thing her father had said still rang in her mind. "Father, you said no longer betrothed. That means at some point, I was. May I ask how and to who this was?"

Hiashi smiled sadly and nodded. "In my youth, I was a on a genin team as all who could train were put to the task of winning the war. We remained a team until we became jonin and were good friends through the course of the war. On that team was the man I would call my best friend. He was not from a noble clan, he had no bloodline but his parents were skilled weapon smiths. He won great renown and eventually became a leader to our ninja. My friend became more than just a leader in war to us. He helped Konoha live on and was feared throughout the rest of the ninja world."

"About 2 weeks before the Kyuubi attacked, we got together with our wives. They were good friends as well. Both were expecting and the medics had determined that my friend was having a son and of course we were having you, a daughter. All night long we were having sake and laughing at the times to come."

"At one point things got serious, how having children would make our political lives a problem with power seekers and sycophants looking to get to us through the children. Your mother joked that maybe we should get the babies betrothed so neither of us would have to worry about power seekers later on. My father overheard us joking and said immediately we should do so.

"Your grandfather was a canny man and always looked ahead to the future. The techniques of my friend would be a great addition to the Hyuuga as well as the position he held would be of great value to the clan. At the time, my father told me I would have many sons later on and betrothing a daughter for all that would be a benefit. We agreed to my father's plan. I know he was a plotter but he told me he would be satisfied with just the connection to a Kage. My friend and I took it all in stride but I am sure you remember your Mother's stories of how your grandfather was. He was very formal and loved legal niceties. So even before either of you were born you were set to be wed. But just weeks after, the Kyuubi attacked. My friend and his wife both died in that attack. If they had lived things would have been so much better Hinata. You would have been married to the son of the Fourth Hokage"

* * *

"Wait a second; we got married just because of a betrothal?" Ken interrupted.

"Not quite, it was a bit more complicated than that," Hinata smiled at her husband.

* * *

Hinata sat in shock for a few minutes as her father sat quietly. Her mind could barely comprehend what she had been told. She would have been married to the son of a Hokage by now if the Fourth and his family had lived. Looking up she said, "Father, may I beg for an hour to think and compose myself from this news before we continue to speak on other matters."

"Yes, daughter, you may"

"Arigato" Hinata rose and left to walk in the garden. She already knew her Naruto-kun would not be on the list as he was more than 2 months older than she was and her father said all the names were of people younger than she was. 'I get to choose and the only one I would choose is forbidden to me. But something father said troubles me.' After the hour passed, Hinata was back in her father's office.

"Father, I have several more questions regarding a betrothal contract. Is it enforceable even if the parents of one of the persons betrothed have died?"

"Yes, it falls upon the guardian of the child involved to enforce the contract. It over-rides any deal struck save an accomplished marriage. If a person involved has married another, it becomes an immediate default. In your case, there would be virtually no chance that a child of the Fourth was born since there is no record of such a child. In addition, he would have had to be born between the party and the attack of the Kyuubi, the day both the Fourth and his wife died. The child would have been found long since as there are not that many blondes living in Konoha."

Hinata nodded silently and Hiashi commenced the daily lessons.

At noon, Hiashi dismissed her from instruction for the day. Hinata spent lunch thinking over a few stray ideas that were nagging at her. The words her father chose kept ringing in her ears, like she was being told something underneath what he actually said. The fact that he mentioned blondes would continue to return to her thoughts. After eating lunch, she decided to pay a visit to the archives.

The branch family member in charge of the archives bowed low in welcome to Hinata. "Welcome, Hinata-sama. I am Hoshi, custodian of the clan archives. How may I help you today?"

"I received a list of names from my father today. I would like to find out about what knowledge our clan has of them before I meet them in person in the next few months. As I am older than all of them, I have some time to spend learning before I am to pursue any in a meaningful fashion."

Hoshi bowed again and led Hinata deeper into the building. It looked like any library that Hinata had been in, but on one side the shelves contained volumes while the smaller section contained many small scrolls. Hoshi talked as her led Hinata around, "The genealogy section is broken into 2 parts, those living and those dead. All relevant persons in Konoha are listed in the main section, by clan. A simple family tree, birth death, children and so on. Those people who are not part of a clan are listed in tomes in alphabetical order. We do this as sometimes a prodigy or new bloodline appears and it is best to know where it might have come from. These files go back to the beginning of Konoha for non-Hyuuga. We have agreements for exchanging basic lineage trees with most of the clans and trade that information for purposes like that list in your hand, Hinata-sama.

All living persons of interest have their own scroll in the shelves, again by clan, as well as those who have accomplished great deeds. Upon the death of any person, the scroll is transcribed into a volume and filed in the deceased section by clan or otherwise."

"What defines one as a 'relevant person' Hoshi-san?"

"They are a ninja or a non ninja member of a recognized clan. It was decided long ago that knowing your friends strengths and weaknesses is as important as knowing your enemies, because even alliances do not last forever. Those who are friends today might be dangerous to the clan tomorrow and knowing all we can will only protect the clan. Information is also a form of power, Hinata-sama."

Hinata only nodded at that and walked down the wall of scrolls, past the listed clan names to the end, where non-clan ninja were stored. She found the scroll with the name 'Uzumaki, Naruto' and pulled that one out.

"Why choose that one, Hinata-sama? That boy is a troublesome one. He defeated Neji-san in a Chunnin final a few years ago. I will admit adding that information to his scroll was something I wish I never had to do. But the boy did catch the eye of Jiraiya-sama somehow. That man could have had anyone be his apprentice and just picked that no account..."

Hoshi was stopped in his tirade as Hinata glared at the archivist. "Naruto-san was my classmate in the Academy and is an accomplished ninja. He works very hard to serve Konoha and keep all here safe. He might not be the best ninja in the village but he does serve it and as such deserves at least that much respect."

Hoshi bowed quickly, "Yes, Hinata-sama. I am sorry."

Hinata unfurled the top of the scroll. It showed basic vital statistics, hair color, eye color, blood type, and date of birth. "The line for names of parents is blank, Hoshi-san."

"Yes, Hinata-sama. I recall some details on that scroll from when it was created. One of my assistants was assigned the task of compiling information on your graduating class. Uzumaki-san's scroll was most difficult to create and the assistant brought it to my attention. It seems Uzumaki-san was not born in the hospital here, but was listed having been born the day of the Kyuubi attack in the records of the orphanage. He had been taken there by the Third in person and told the mistress of the place the name and that the child had just been born only days before. His birthmarks caused many to give him problems there and the people working at the orphanage refused to talk much about him."

"But later records from the hospital that we collected show he was treated or admitted multiple times for malnutrition and neglect prior to his becoming a genin. His accomplishments since then, notable jutsu used, other public information like genin squad are included. Did you know he was there when the Uchiha defeated the boy who would become Kazekage during the Sound/Sand invasion?"

"Naruto-kun defeated Gaara" Hinata whispered reading the scroll.

"What was that that, Hinata-sama?"

"Naruto defeated Gaara of the Sand Village in that battle. Whatever your source for that information was has gotten it wrong. Gaara even said as much months later when a team of us were at the Sand Village. The Kazekage holds Naruto in high regard."

"I will have that information corrected on the scroll, Hinata-sama"

"Good, please do that. Now the person I really wanted to look up right now is deceased, Hoshi-san. I wanted to look at the information on the Fourth and his family. My father told me an interesting item today and I wanted to know more."

"Hai, Hinata-sama."

The man led Hinata to a row of tomes in the non-clan section. "The Fourth was an interesting fellow, Hinata-sama. He came from nothing to become Hokage and then died saving all of Konoha from the demon Kyuubi. Ah, here it is. Sadly, no clan can claim him so his entry is merely in the 'Other Ninja' section. But he does rate his own volume due to the sheer amount of information here."

Hoshi set the volume on a nearby table and stepped back to allow Hinata access. She opened the book and look at the vital information. Family name, parent's names, no siblings, wife's name but no family name for the wife, no children, basic vital statistics, height, blood type, hair, eyes. The date of death for both the Fourth and his wife was the date of the Kyuubi attack. Turning the page Hinata saw a small sketch of the Fourth's face. Hinata had never seen a sketch of the Fourth before and gasped slightly at the resemblance to Naruto.

"The face on the mountain is much different than this, Hoshi-san. The likeness is not even close"

"Hai, Hinata-sama. There were very few existing photos of the Fourth. Most of what people had to go by was blurry shots as he rarely hung around long enough for pictures in his line of work. This sketch was actually made by your mother the night after a dinner party he attended here. The artisans on the mountain took many liberties and went for a more heroic look in the stone. None born since then really have seen the Fourth's true face. But we preserved it here."

'So that is the face that would have been my father in law' Hinata thought. 'A few scars on his check and he would be … Naruto!! This is too much of a coincidence' "Hoshi-san, when was the Fourth's wife due to give birth when she died?" "Hmm, that never got written down, but I think rumor had it at about 4 weeks before you were due. Then you ended up arriving 2 weeks late, your mother was so upset at that…."

"I was born late?"

"Hai, Hinata-sama. About 2 weeks late. Is that important?"

"It might be, Hoshi-san. It just might be. Could you put this back for me, the scroll as well after you update it. I need to go somewhere. Arigato Hoshi-san. I will be back in a day or two to look at some families on my list."

Later that night, Hinata lay awake thinking. 'If my theory is correct, there is a chance that several older people in the village know what I am looking for. But why would no one bring it forward? Protection, fear, shame. So many reasons but only one that matters to me right now. To find the answer I need, I must learn who Naruto's parents truly were.'

Over the next several weeks, Hinata pored through the volumes in the Hyuuga archives as well as those in the public library of Konoha. None of the texts had the information she was looking for. Anything that could tie Naruto to the Fourth was circumstantial at best. None of the orphanage's personal documents were open to the public and too many older people disliked Naruto for no reason none would discuss the young man.

It seemed like a concerted effort had been made to obscure the personal life of the Fourth as well. His accomplishments were known but nothing of who the man was outside of his office. Iruka had helped look in the academy files for a photo of the genin team under the pretense of Hinata seeing her father as a new genin but the team picture was not there, only a shot of a young Hiashi who looked very much like Neji.

Hinata made a wry smile when she saw it. She knew that if Hiashi and Hizashi had not been identical twins this whole hunt would not even be needed. She would have already been married to Neji. Her father and uncle being identical twins meant that Neji was more of a half-brother than a cousin and even for clan like the Hyuuga that was too close a connection for bearing children.

An attempt to talk to Kakashi on the subject of the Fourth went nowhere as Kakashi merely left stating that it was too painful to discuss. Hinata knew she was running out of options for a background investigation and would have to go into something a bit more overt. She made an appointment to meet with Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage.

Tsunade smiled as Hinata took the seat in front her. Hinata took little time in coming to the point. "Tsunade-sama, as you know, I am the heir to the Hyuuga clan and as such I need to be married to fulfill a part of my role in that. I have a small problem before I can proceed any further with my plans for a future. My father has informed me that I had been betrothed to someone but that contract is no longer valid. As Hokage, you have access to the village's contract records as well as all the files in your library that the previous Hokage have amassed. I was hoping that I could use these to ensure that the contract cannot be enforced in the future or if the other person mentioned is even alive. The person making the contract died as well as the person I was betrothed to was assumed to have been lost during the Kyuubi attack 16 years ago."

"That is quite a challenge, Hinata. The official records surrounding that time are spotty at best. All betrothal contracts in Konoha are filed with the Hokage so a copy of yours might still exist. The attack never got to the secure records vaults. Why bring this up to me now however? I am sure if the person lived, your clan would have taken pains to keep track of him."

"As I mentioned, Tsunade-sama, the contract had just been written who made the maker died. His son might have lived and not know of his heritage." Hinata looked down, a ghost of her old stutter returning, "I – I know this is hard to believe Tsunade-sama but the person who made the contract was the Fourth and I believe that Naruto is his son."

Tsunade sat in shock for a few moments just looking at Hinata. Somehow, this chunin had figured out one of Konoha's most closely guarded secrets. Tsunade knew exactly what Hinata was saying to be true but she had to play ignorance.

"This ... this is a troubling case if true, Hinata. Finding that Naruto is actually the son of the Fourth would make a huge problem in the village, more so given his treatment over the years. I will have to consult Jiraiya on this one, as I am not as familiar with the Fourth as he was. I had left the village shortly before the Fourth took office and while I was one of the few people who knew he was married and that his wife also died in the attack. I was also aware she was expecting. Jiraiya was too much of a braggart not to tell me of such things but I was busy dealing with my own loss at the time."

Tsunade paused again here, fighting back her still pained memories. "I will have Shizune find the betrothal contract and read it. If the information you have told me is correct, I will have a search through the official records conducted. The offspring of a Kage in any country is not someone to be ignored. I also will have to go through the Third's own files on this one. The old man hated paperwork more than I do and he tended to just put things into boxes at random."

"Give me a few weeks. If something more pressing does not take up my time I will find what I can. For your part, I will need to know what you know and give all your data to Shizune. We will solve this mystery, one way or another. Hinata, I am glad you came to me with this. Naruto is important to me and I hold him dear like a little brother or a son at times. I know that you care deeply about him and if what you claim is true; then you could very well become a like daughter in law to me"

Tsunade smiled at the lightly blushing girl. "Now, let me get back to my paperwork, I am sure Shizune has another cartful just waiting for you to open the door." Hinata stood, bowed and left. 'I already know that you are the Son of a Hokage, Naruto. I wish that we could find the documented proof we have looked for for years now. It might not make things right for you but it would make things better' Tsunade thought before she explained things to Shizune.

It was 2 weeks before Hinata was able to hear back from Tsunade. A C ranked diplomatic mission to the Land of Tea had kept the girl out of Konoha for most of that time. After reporting back in with Tsunade at the mission debriefing, Hinata was asked to wait in the Hokage's office when her team was dismissed. Hinata waited as Tsunade pulled out a small number of scrolls and files.

"Well, the easiest part in this was finding the betrothal contract. If it was not fulfilled by the eighteenth birthday, it becomes void with all assets promised within as dowry delivered as a fee. I must admit, your grandfather wrote out a vicious contract. Most of the terms in it are skewed to the benefit of the Hyuuga. The couple is promised little more than a place to live and would have retained freedom from the Caged Bird Seal for you and your children. The Fourth's techniques were included in the contract to be shared with the Hyuuga."

"The part of linking Naruto to being the son of the Fourth we were not able to prove. All we have is circumstantial items. His looks are the most compelling one. As you pointed out, Naruto simply looks like the Fourth. It is very surprising no one has mentioned this before. The timing of his birth is a few weeks before the Fourth's child was actually due but being born on the day of the Kyuubi attack still fits the theory. The sole report on the death of the Fourth's wife was fairly gruesome but there is no mention of her child."

"The boy is an orphan, that is public record stated by the Third himself that his parents died in the attack along with his date of birth. I cannot find any other official records that can confirm or deny your claim, Hinata. I found a record in the Third's journal about that day. Mainly the relevant part says that the Fourth was frantic trying to find a way to defeat the Kyuubi but all he had was a forbidden sealing jutsu."

Hinata broke in there, "The one that sealed Kyuubi into Naruto?"

Tsunade looked at Hinata with an arched eyebrow, "Um, Naruto confirmed the seal he has after the Akatsuki business a few months ago, Tsunade-sama. He felt it best that we know why the group was pressing so hard to capture him."

"Well, that makes explaining a bit easier. The hospital had been evacuated as the Kyuubi approached and there were no children available anyhow. Then, your father arrived at the tower carrying Naruto. The Third left no other mention I could find on what happened after that but that the Fourth said Naruto should be considered a hero. In the sealed records of the village council, many were opposed to even letting Naruto live but it was after strong support of the Third mainly from your father and several other prominent clans that he was allowed to live. That was when the Third made his ban on passing knowledge of the sealed Kyuubi to the younger population. The record of the council meeting was sealed, Hokage Eyes Only."

"It seems your father knows more about this than the official records show. I think he holds vital information to solving you little mystery. Hinata, I am assigning you a mission to discover what your father knows for me."

* * *

Next Chapter: Family Issues, Part 3

* * *

End Notes: The part of the story that is being told by Hinata was primarily over a year ago and does not reflect all of current canon. I tried to add in some recent events like the Akatsuki invasion of Konoha but only in passing and not in full. Any discrepancies between my story and whatever anyone may say are based on my story is not canon and as such not bound by the official line.

Review Notes: It is Naruto. The hospital and Tsunade have both confirmed it. No poor schlub here standing in for the real deal.

Chapter Posted 12/12/08


	6. Family Issues Part 3

This is the final part of howNaruto and Hinata got together. I had added chapter 4 on 12/10 and chapter 5 on 12/12 so if you only check weekly, you might have missed them. Updates will go back to the old schedule of about every 3 weeks after this one

**Family Issues, Part 3**

"_It seems your father knows more about this than the official records show. I think he holds vital information to solving you little mystery. Hinata, I am assigning you a mission to discover what your father knows for me."_

"So, the whole time, you father knew who I, who Naruto was?"

Hiashi nodded, "Yes, I did. Let Hinata finish her story. She tells it much better than I could."

* * *

**Hinata's Story, Continued**

The Hyuuga heir arrived at her scheduled lesson the next morning with Tsunade's information scroll in hand. Hiashi noted the Hokage mark on the scroll as she was sitting. "Daughter, what do you have today?"

"Father, I have been doing research on the betrothal you mentioned to me after my birthday. There were facts surrounding it that troubled me. The words you chose when you told me about it were not normal for you. There were too many inconsistencies in the Konoha records to know for certain if what I suspect is true or false."

"I looked through clan records regarding the village but found them to be incomplete so I asked the Hokage for more information. There too, information was incomplete. That fact bothered the Hokage, as village records should be the most complete in regards to its citizen's heritage. Tsunade-sama asked officially for me to provide her with any information brought to light by my investigations."

Hiashi spoke very quietly, "I see. What have you found out, Hinata-chan?"

Hinata was taken back by the familiar usage of her father to her. He had not called her Hinata-chan since before her mother had died following Hanabi's birth. Steeling herself Hinata continued, "It seems that there is a person who knows what I am looking for but that person has not made such things known to the public. Father, why have you not told anyone that Naruto is the Fourth's son?"

Hiashi closed his eyes and nodded slowly. "You have pieced everything together. It means you have a firm resolve in this matter to come to me and say it outright. Such resolve is fitting in my heir. You must care a great deal about the boy to be so diligent in your search and risk so much on his behalf. I … I must prepare a few items. I will summon you back this afternoon and I will explain everything to you." Hinata rose, bowed and left while Hiashi merely sat quiet, a pained look on his face as the man was lost in memories.

Hinata sat in the garden looking at the family shrine. Time seemed to crawl as she waited for her father's message but at last one of the Branch members came up and informed her that Hiashi was ready for her. Shaking slightly, Hinata nodded and went to the office.

Hiashi was waiting at the office door for Hinata to arrive and told her to sit. He then closed the door and activated a small paper seal. "To prevent unwanted eyes and ears from knowing things they do not need to." Similar seals adorned the other 3 walls, ceiling and floor. Hiashi returned to his desk and sat. Several scrolls lay on the desk before him. All bore official marks of the clan and Hokage. "These scrolls contain the basis of the information you seek, Daughter."

"First, the clan copy of your betrothal." Hiashi lifted one scroll to show Hinata. "Next, an open letter signed and dated by the Third after his re-instatement as Hokage entrusting to myself the other sealed documents here. One being the official record of the birth and lineage of the boy named Uzumaki Naruto. It is still sealed but it says that Naruto is the son of the Fourth and that I am witness to that birth."

"Last, I have in this scroll sealed the will, personal effects and remaining legacy of the Fourth to be given to his son on or before his seventeenth birthday if the executor, myself, and trustee, the Hokage feel the boy is free of the influence of the Kyuubi sealed within him. The will as well as the lineage remain sealed right now to be opened in official forums at the needed times. The scroll also has all personal papers and jutsu scrolls known to exist at the time of the Fourth's death sealed within it."

"Father, were you aware that in the betrothal contract there are terms that said if it is not completed by Naruto's eighteenth birthday, all items stated as dowries will be payable in full to the parties involved?"

"No, I had not read it that closely at the time; it was over 16 years ago. This is troublesome. I knew my father was ambitious for the clan but not to that extent. But, I am sure you have many more questions than that and merely getting these documents out is the simplest thing we shall do here today. You will take them to the Hokage after we have finished and I will meet with her shortly thereafter."

"I have only 1 real question Father. Why? Why hide all of this?"

"That is the question that is the most painful, Daughter. I must tell you everything in order for you to understand it."

"When the Kyuubi attacked, we had little warning. It was only a few hours at best. We did not know then who set the beast upon us but many felt at the time that it was Iwa. The Fourth gutted their military power during the war and many there still hungered for Leaf village blood. The civilians were evacuated and all shinobi were waiting. I was with the Fourth, the Third and Jiraiya along with our wives at the Tower. Our teammate, Teuchi, was there as well. His wife and daughter had been taken to a shelter already. Between the seven of us, we were looking through every forbidden scroll we could find to get a means to defeat the beast. All we found was the Death Reaper seal the Fourth came up with years before. He refused to sacrifice anyone else, as it required 2 lives to use. The caster's life would be sacrificed and a second life to be the container of the beast's essence."

"When the beast was too close, Teuchi and I were asked to take the women to the shelter. The closest one was a short distance from the tower. But when we were just outside of the shelter the winds generated by the beast hit Konoha and shattered nearby trees. The winds were swirling like a tornado because of the Kyuubi's tails. Shrapnel from the trees hit our group. I used Kaiten until I fell exhausted but still the debris and wind pelted us. One large branch caught Teuchi in the back, fracturing his spine. He avoided being paralyzed but it left him unable to remain being a shinobi in the future. Your mother had some emergency medical training and worked on him as I recovered some but the wind caught up Naruto's mother. She was pulled into the air and away from us. I left your mother with Teuchi and went after her."

"Even being 8 months pregnant that woman was still ninja. She had a spool of ninja wire stashed somewhere on her. Near the base of the tower, she managed to get a line onto a tree and pull herself to the ground. But flying debris hit her in the knees from behind sheering both of her lower legs off. Even at my best, we both knew I could not get her to help in time because she would bleed to death before that. As I tried to stop the bleeding, she took one of my kunai and sliced into her belly."

Hiashi paused, as the emotions of his memory were so vivid in relating these to Hinata. Tears ran down his face. Hiashi paused to dry them with a handkerchief before continuing. "She cut Naruto free from herself and gasped to me to save him. She kissed him then fell quiet. The baby cried weakly but all I could do for him then was go into the Tower for shelter. I stumbled in, mostly in shock as they looked at me holding Naruto. The look on my face must have told them more than I could in words."

"The Third looked at the infant but said he was having trouble breathing and did not look like he was going to make it. The agonized look on the Fourth's face I cannot describe. He just looked like he had lost everything, because he had. First his wife and now in under an hour his son would die, suffocated due to under developed lungs. He grabbed the baby, the sealing scroll and used his Hiraishin to get out to the battle. Before we could catch up, he had summoned Gamabunta and cast his Death Reaper seal using Naruto as the vessel. The Fourth knew that the beast would keep the boy alive. He wanted his son to live so badly he inflicted that on the boy over the boy dying. He asked us to have the village see Naruto as a hero as he died."

Hiashi sat silent for a moment before continuing.

"The beast was defeated but then the real demons came out."

"The Third, Jiraiya and myself had to meet with the village elders and clan council hours later as your mother watched little Naruto. We decided that they could not know Naruto was the son of the Fourth. We were aware Danzo would use his influence to control the boy through ANBU and Root by making the excuse of security from assassination and make a weapon out of the boy."

"We felt that as a nameless orphan he had the best chance at a life. His name, Uzumaki, was the family name of his mother. Somehow that also seemed fitting. It also describes the swirling winds that caused his mother's death and the swirl of the seal on his stomach. We did not know how well the Fourth's seal would hold. Other jinchuuriki have shown bad tendencies as well as possession by the beasts so that also influenced the decision. The son of a Kage being controlled by a demon was not something that should happen."

"In addition, the threats of Rock and Cloud loomed. The recent war had been won for us by the Fourth and if Naruto's heritage were revealed then, they would spare no effort in attempts to kill the child. Add to it that we were weakened severely by the Kyuubi assault, and we faced a disaster that could lead to the downfall of Konoha. So, we hid the truth."

"Between the three of us and a few seal experts were managed to convince the council that if the boy died young the seal would fail and release the beast again. We told them that it would be at least 20 years before we could be sure the beast would not outlive Naruto. This alone would protect the boy's life, as word would be passed to the populace that to harm the boy would make the seal fail. Others wanted banishment but Danzo and his war hawks managed to block that saying it was best to keep an eye on the boy. We Hyuuga as well as some of the weakened clans wanted to adopt the boy but the balance prevented that feeling no one clan should have sole access to the boy. It was madness."

"In the end, there were three factions trying to decide a newborns fate and all at odds in how to deal with the boy. What one group wanted the other 2 would oppose. In the end, the Third made the law that no one was to speak of the beast sealed in the boy and said that the village would care for their hero together. The child would be a ward of the Hokage and placed in the orphanage with all the other children. I wish it had come out like that. I could do nothing but wait and hope."

"The only overt aid I could make was to donate funds to help the orphanage. Danzo's supporters and the faction that wanted to kill Naruto were the ones that spread the word to hate the boy. Danzo did that so Naruto would be treated harshly and be tormented so he could 'rescue' the boy. The others did so hoping they could kill or banish him. Even members of my own clan went against me by beginning to fear and hate the boy even after my commands to treat him kindly. Even an all seeing eye cannot see everything. But, if it were to become known who he is it could still shatter the village."

"The only clan members who knew that Naruto was the Fourth's son were myself, your mother, your uncle and his wife. The elders were kept in the dark about the truth but some suspected. Hyuuga were not known for the care of orphans. Naruto's blonde hair and blue eyes were also a strong giveaway to his heritage as well. Only the Fourth and Yamanaka family had that coloring. To make things worse, over a dozen Hyuuga ninja had died in the Kyuubi assault so the feelings against Naruto were strong."

"Those who suspected made several early attempts to turn the clan against the boy because some elders did not wish the chance of your betrothal becoming a fact. Over the years, many veiled threats have been made against you. A branch member who lost his only son in the attack allowed the kidnapping on your 3rd birthday. He thought if he could not remove the boy, he would remove you for the sake of the clan. To protect your life, it took a vow from me never to mention his betrothal to you. I agreed to do so unless specifically asked about it. I would hide the truth but would answer honestly if asked."

"So, with your 16th birthday approaching, I was left with a quandary. My daughter's happiness or my clan. The clan elders still foolishly hold the clan deaths by the Kyuubi against Naruto. Even though he is more skilled and of greater renown than any we could find, the clan elders will not consider him as favorable for being a husband. That is why Naruto was not on your list. I could not go against them in this as they are holding the branding of Hinabi with the Caged Bird seal over my head right now. If I tried to place Naruto onto the list, I would be deposed and Hinabi would be branded before the day is over."

"My only option was to bring up the betrothal in passing. I felt if you were driven enough to find out the truth with the clues I could give you then I could tell everything. If you did not care for Naruto enough, I would wait and let the village know his lineage at his 18th birthday and keep the betrothal a secret."

Hiashi lifted the sealed scrolls from the desk and handed them to Hinata. "Take these to the Hokage. Naruto is a fine boy and will be a good man. He would also be a fine husband. He has earned that respect from me and from many of the ninja clans. Now they can know why I never stood against him and add that to how they regard him, for good or ill. I would also tell you to remind Tsunade that Naruto is still officially a 'ward of the Hokage'. She will understand the meaning of that"

Hinata looked at her father's face and saw a single tear reappear in the corner of his eye at the pain of the memories he had related. She bowed quickly and left the office to go to her room to think. Hinata was stunned at the completely unexpected revelations of her father. He had known for years exactly who Naruto was but never had told anyone. Thinking back, she could never remember any time her father said anything bad regarding Naruto. Hiashi normally remained quiet about Naruto or would tell clan members that he is not to be discussed. Most took that as a quiet disapproval of the boy but seeing things based on the new information Hinata now had she realized one important thing. Hiashi was simply stopping things from proceeding against Naruto by banning talk of him in clan business. That also allowed the clan to have 'no official stance' on Naruto.

She also realized that when other children were told to avoid Naruto, she had never received such directives from her parents. Her personal hesitation came from a combination of her own shyness and from others in school telling her not to be around the boy; peer pressure. Most adults simply shunned the boy by pretending he did not exist. Many merchants would not do business with him and few restaurants would serve him. The only place that actually welcomed Naruto was Ichiraku Ramen, which was owned and run by Teuchi; the same Teuchi who had been a teammate of the 4th and her father. It would make sense if he knew the truth as well. Hinata decided to stop for lunch on her way over to see the Hokage with the scrolls her father had given her.

Hinata sat at the counter of the ramen stand and was warmly greeted by Ayame. Hinata asked to speak to Teuchi when he had a chance and ordered a lunch special. Hinata had mostly finished when Teuchi managed to get a break from cooking and came up to the front.

"Ah, Hinata-san. Ayame said you wanted to speak with me. Not to complain I hope?" He smiled as he joked and Hinata smiled in return.

"No Teuchi-san. I actually found out this morning that you were on a team with my father years ago under Jiraiya. I also had a small question that you do not need to answer if it makes you uncomfortable." Hinata lowered her voice. "How long have you known who Naruto's parents were?"

Teuchi backed up slightly in shock as he had learned close to Hinata to hear the question. "Um, hmm, Ayame, I need to take a break and make a delivery. Hinata, come with me please." Hinata nodded and followed the quickly walking Teuchi. Ayame was puzzled and noticed that her father had forgotten the delivery box.

Leading Hinata to a nearby park, Teuchi sat on an out of the way bench looking very nervous. "Hinata, this is a very difficult subject. No one knows for certain whom Naruto's parents were. I have a strong idea based on what I know but …" Teuchi sighed. "I know in my heart who he is but I cannot prove it." Hinata pulled out the scroll her father had given her. "Teuchi-san, I can. My father was holding this in the clan vault for the Third. He was witness to Naruto's birth." Teuchi looked at the scroll in her hand and lowered his head into his hands.

After a few seconds, he looked back up and in a shaky voice, "But how did you suspect who Naruto is? I was injured in the attack. It nearly crippled me and left me unable to mold chakra anymore. Your mother was with me when Hiashi had Naruto's mother brought in. It was painful to see. She had been a ninja, a good one. She had fire and courage and would never quit at anything. To see her dead like that, all the injuries she suffered. All the blood. I did notice that her stomach was too low under the sheet. Before I could speak, Hiashi said that he did not want to answer anything regarding her condition. Only that it would be better and more honorable if he said nothing of it at this time. I became angry and yelled at him that if could not answer me; we would no longer be friends. He only nodded and left. It was months before I was well enough to be up and about. During that time, your father was made Head of your Clan since your grandfather died along with so many others in the attack. I was no longer an active shinobi. We no longer had contact with our new lives to be attended to."

"Anyhow, I knew a child had been used to seal the Kyuubi but nothing more. The Sandaime's law forbade people from discussing it openly. I retired to work in my father's restaurant and took care of my family. Years later, Naruto first came up to Ichiraku. Gods, he was looking so thin. People just shoved him out of their way or simply ignored him completely. I called the boy in and fed him as much as he could hold without him getting sick and told him he always had a place to eat there. I also heard people muttering about demons and I managed to put everything together. I sent a message to your father that I had met a small blonde boy and now understood his silence that night and apologized."

"A week later, your family stopped in and had lunch. Your mother was pregnant again with your younger sister I believe. Naruto was eating over on his usual place and you were so cute, hiding behind your mother as she told him to eat slower. He just looked scared and ate faster and ran out when he was finished. 'There are not many blondes in Konoha, Teuchi-san, are there?' your father asked. 'No, there aren't Hiashi-san.' 'We should take care of the ones we have left, Teuchi-san.' 'Hai.' Your mother smiled at me and you waved as you all left. That is how I know."

"I am going to see the Hokage after this, Teuchi-san. Perhaps another blonde can help take care of the one we love"

Hinata approached Tsunade's office slowly. Her nerve from facing her father was slowly fading as each step brought her closer to her goal. She knew that revealing all the information she had learned today to the village in general would create chaos. Naruto was the son of the greatest hero Konoha had ever known. A large portion of the people of the village had shunned or verbally abused the boy for his entire life. Some clans and families still pretended he did not exist. Buildings got more acknowledgement than Naruto had from them. Hinata thought on things Naruto had said back in the Academy. 'Someday all of Konoha will acknowledge me' he had been fond of saying. And yet, the scrolls in her hands would force many who denied him to recognize him in some way. They would only acknowledge whom he was born to not the young man or his accomplishments. Not the man she had fallen in love with.

Love.

Such a simple word in itself but it never matches the feelings the word represents. It had begun years before as simple inspiration. Watching the boy no one seemed to want around. Watching the boy be pushed aside, denied friends, driven out of businesses. But he always kept trying to gain acknowledgement. Being denied training or deliberately mistrained by the very teachers who were supposed to help him. To see him trying so hard to succeed had driven her to find within herself the strength to continue. At some point, inspiration turned to infatuation as their careers as ninja approached. Hinata knew that Naruto was impressed by strength and pushed herself beyond what she believed she could be at her first Chunnin Exam.

Weeks later, his confession as to liking people like her gave her hope that he could feel for her what she did for him. After his return from training under Jiraiya, Naruto was already a man in her eyes. His courage in the face of death or worse never wavered. She knew her feelings had matured in those years as well. She paused just outside Tsunade's office now. If everything were to be exposed, she would be open to the same kinds of treatment Naruto received. But then, she had dealt with harsh treatment before. She had grown strong under the gaze of a clan that would not tolerate failure. She had earned their respect. Now, she would gladly discard it all for the one chance that her heart wanted.

She wanted her Naruto-kun.

Shizune noticed Hinata enter the office. She smiled up at the younger woman and noticed the official seals on the scrolls Hinata held. A small gasp sounded as Shizune saw the expressive smile pasted on the face of the Hyuuga heir. Shizune knew that Hinata rarely smiled in public and never like that. A joyful beaming look covered the young woman's face. "Tsunade-sama!!" Shizune called out before rushing to the inner office. "Hinata is here and has some documents for you." Hinata was ushered into the office to stand before Tsunade.

"My father has asked me to give over these scrolls entrusted to him by the Sandaime Hokage to you, Tsunade-sama. They contain the witnessed birth record of Uzumaki Naruto and proof of his lineage as the son of the Yondaime Hokage." Hinata paused as tears of happiness were running down her face. "The second scroll contains all of the Yondaime's personal papers, private effects and jutsu scrolls sealed within it. It is the legal proof of who Naruto-kun is.

Tsunade closed her eyes to ward off tears of her own. "Hiashi had them the whole time. I should have confronted him on this when I took office. I should have known the old man would have entrusted those things to the Fourth's best friend. Shizune, where did you hide my sake? This calls for a celebration. We can finally prove who Naruto is before the Council."

Hinata's smile faltered a bit as Tsunade got Shizune to get the drinks. "Um, I am confused Tsunade-sama. You knew who Naruto was this whole time?"

"Yes, I did know Hinata. We lacked the means to PROVE what we knew. Jiraiya knew but he was sent out of Konoha by the Council soon after the Kyuubi attack to try to find the reason for it. But his word alone was not proof enough to bring to the Council and few trusted his word anyhow. The record of Naruto's birth submitted by Jiraiya as his godfather mysteriously disappeared and was never added to the Council archives and so they could deny everything. Even those of us that knew kept silent because a hint of this would cause many people to find a way to suppress it somehow."

"With enough younger people finally being seated on the Council and the old ones that still dislike the Naruto and the Yondaime in a minority, we can finally bring Naruto's heritage to light. This document your father gave us is the last thing we needed. His 'no official stance' policy on Naruto has served him for 16 years and now this will blow the anti Naruto faction of the Council away and allow us to acknowledge him. Well done Hinata.

* * *

"You did all that for me?" Ken asked shocked.

"Yes, Ken-kun, I did. And I would do it again. I have done it for eight years since you disappeared. No one would believe me when I claimed you were still alive. I paid for the missions to check out leads on your whereabouts. Kiba kept pressuring me to have you declared dead and move on but I could not explain to him what I knew."

"In a secure room in the house is the Toad Contract. I could not tell anyone about the Contract itself because other people in the village would have tried to take it. As long as a signer still lives, the toads know it. When Jiraiya-sama died right before the Akatsuki invasion, the toads knew the moment he was dead. The same applied to you, Ken. The toads knew you were alive but they could not track you because your chakra had been sealed away. I receive occasional visits from the toad Gamakichi with information on possible leads. As a summons, they are powerful but they cannot move about easily or unnoticed in certain places. So it was up to me to investigate most of them."

"My old team helped when they could but with the war it got harder to make the trips. I even disobeyed my team leader, Kurenai in order to follow up one lead that was mistaken. She tried to have my ninja status revoked because of that. Things have improved slightly there but even so, I cannot forgive her for that yet."

Ken just stared as the strong woman he was getting to know broke down in tears. She had sacrificed time and again for him and he did not know it. Instinctively, he wrapped his arms around the small woman and held her as she cried. She risked everything for the person she loved. The person locked inside his head. In his mind, he made the decision that he would find a way to be worthy of her sacrifice and the only way to do that was to go along with the unsealing he had been thinking of rejecting.

Hinata looked up at Ken. This close, he could see the redness in her eyes from crying and he smiled at her. "So, is that the end of the story? You find the prince and you marry him?"

Hiashi chuckled, "No, it was not that simple."

* * *

Tsunade had called in Naruto shortly after Hinata delivered the scrolls. Hinata was waiting there when Naruto came in. The hyperactive blonde yelled at Tsunade, "Hey, Granny Tsunade, what did you want?"

Tsunade smirked, 'This will end up being the ultimate prank on Naruto, and to make it better it is not a prank.' "Naruto, Hinata here was kind enough to bring over some documents that had been stored in the Hyuuga vault. They pertain to you."

"The Hyuuga? Why would the Hyuuga have something about me?"

"It seems that Hiashi was a friend of your father. The scrolls are your birth certificate and your parent's personal effects," Tsunade said smiling.

"Oh," Naruto said in a quiet voice.

Tsunade, Shizune and Hinata were all shocked at the lack of reaction by Naruto. "But, aren't you even excited to finally know who your parents are?"

Naruto looked down with a sad face, "I already knew who my parents were. I figured it out years ago. The Fourth and his wife were my parents."

Tsunade was truly shocked but asked, "You really knew and you never told anyone?"

"Who would have believed me?" Naruto said in the same quiet tone. He walked up to Tsunade's desk and took a black magic marker from it and walked to the picture of the Fourth on the wall. Then he drew his whisker marks on the glass and dropped the marker to the floor. "It's actually pretty obvious, if you take the time to look."

Naruto then turned and left out the office window.

Tsunade blew out a long breath, "Well, that was a huge downer."

Hinata just stood in silence. Her heart was pounding madly and without thinking, she leapt after Naruto.

It took her an hour but she finally found Naruto at his favorite training ground. The three posts stood near the Memorial Stone and Naruto was sitting atop the center one. He was simply staring at the Hokage Mountain. She stood off to one side watching him.

"You can come out Hinata. I know you're there," Naruto called to her.

She walked over to the post and hopped atop the end post and sat down.

"Rough day, huh? She asked in her quiet voice.

Naruto just nodded. "Once Granny Tsunade announces who my parents were, every day is going to be a rough one. All kinds of people are going to be after me. Not like Akatsuki after me, but after me because of who my parents were."

"It is acknowledgement, sort of, Naruto."

"No, it isn't. They will acknowledge the Yondaime's son, not Naruto."

"It sounds like you have really thought about it."

"Yeah, going around with Jiraiya made me see that deal with Sasuke a dozen times with a dozen princes. Girls fawning all over the rich guy hoping some of the wealth will fall onto them. The girl who gets the famous guy wins. He could be ugly, or fat, or have a demon stuck in his guts but it wouldn't matter because of his name and that is what they really wanted."

Naruto shook his head, "The Old Man told me something when I was little, Hinata. I was feeling lonely because no one would even talk to me one day. He said 'Don't be sad Naruto. If you are feeling down, just look up at the faces on the Mountain.' He pointed to the carving of the Fourth. 'He is watching over you, Naruto. If you ever feel alone, just look there and remember that your parents loved you before they died.'"

"That sounds kind of comforting, Naruto; knowing that they loved you."

Naruto nodded slowly.

"You know, they are not the only ones," Hinata whispered to soft for Naruto to hear.

"How did you know I was there, Naruto? I thought I was quiet enough," she asked.

For the first time since she arrived, Naruto smiled slightly, "I always know when you are there Hinata. Just like I know there is an ANBU in the trees over there about 50 yards away." Naruto pointed to a group of shadows but Hinata saw nothing. "It's easier to pretend otherwise but I know when I am being followed in Konoha."

"Oh," said Hinata sadly in a soft voice. "Why didn't you ever say anything?"

"Well, the ANBU are old news. It doesn't really matter after so long, protection, monitoring me, whatever you want to call it. With you, it was fun. It was like a game sometimes. I couldn't play with other kids often so I could pretend we were playing a game. I figured if you knew I could tell you were there, you would stop doing it. So few people wanted me around it felt good to have someone who wanted to be near me, even if it was just following me around." Naruto was speaking in such a quiet voice now; Hinata could barely hear him from her post.

Naruto suddenly chuckled, "You know something? You are the first person who has seen me like this since the Pervy Sage died." Naruto looked up at the moon now. "Grin like an idiot, be loud and no one will bother you because they think you are all right. I couldn't hide anything from that old man, he was the master at it too so he knew enough to look past the grin. Damn, I miss him."

Hinata had nothing to say in response to that. She sat quietly just being there with Naruto.

Hinata was walking along with Shino and Kiba a week after the night in the training area. The village was buzzing with the announcement of Naruto's heritage. Since so many people had become aware of Naruto's status as a jinchuuriki due to the Akatsuki invasion, the fact of him being the son of the Fourth made a lot more sense. Many people still frowned upon him because of the demon sealed inside of him but many more moved to a neutral stance regarding him. A number of teenage girls had begun stalking after Naruto but he had not been seen on the streets since the announcement. The blonde ninja kept to himself or moved along the rooftops when he traveled in the village.

Kiba joked once that for years the guy wanted attention and now that he could get it, he was avoiding it. The young man never knew what hit him at the following sparring session when Hinata nearly beat him into the ground. Shino just shook his head at the Inuzuka's stupidity for upsetting Hinata.

The trio was surprised to see Naruto hop down from a roof in front of them. He had a grim look on his face as he spoke, "Hinata, I need to speak with you; Alone. Meet me at my training area, please." The blonde leapt away after that.

Kiba was annoyed by this but Shino showed nothing as usual. Hinata excused herself from her teammates and headed off to meet Naruto.

When she walked across the open grass to the training posts, she could see Naruto pacing back and forth. She stopped a few feet away and waited as he kept moving. When he turned to her, he held up a copy of a familiar scroll.

"Do you know what this is, Hinata?"

In a small voice she replied, "It's a betrothal contract."

Naruto nodded, "Granny Tsunade dropped it on me this morning. You and I are supposed to get married! Did you know about this?"

Hinata nodded slightly as she felt his rage over the situation.

"How long have you known about this Hinata?"

"A few weeks. I found out after my birthday party."

"So you knew and you never said anything about this?"

Hinata looked at the angry blonde and a few tears leaked from her eyes as she nodded.

"Why Hinata?" Naruto demanded.

Seconds crept by in silence as he looked at her before she spoke, "I ... I was afraid."

Naruto paled, "Afraid of me?" His face purpled as his emotions soared in anger again. "You're afraid of me?! Afraid that you could not bear to be seen with a monster?!"

Hinata bit her lip and shook her head no before shouting back at him desperately, "NO!"

Her outburst slowed Naruto as it confused him.

"No," she continued, "I … I was afraid that you wouldn't want me."

Hinata's head dropped down in sadness as her tears grew. She took Naruto's shocked silence as a cue to continue.

"What do you mean wouldn't want you, Hinata?"

"You being the son of the Fourth, you could pick almost anyone in the Fire Country and they would marry you now. I'm just … me."

"But why didn't you or your father say anything before this?"

"Most of the clan doesn't like you because of the Kyuubi and would depose my father if he pressed for the betrothal to go forward. They would also force the Caged Bird Seal onto Hanabi if that happened. But since you are old enough, if you wanted to you could reject the betrothal."

"I could?" Naruto was more confused now.

The pair stood in silence for a long time before Naruto spoke again.

He stepped close to Hinata. In a soft voice he said, "What do you want, Hinata?"

Hinata looked up at his bright blue eyes. They were open and waiting for something. She could look into those eyes forever and never get tired of it. She drew strength from somewhere inside of herself and whispered, "I want my Naruto-kun."

"Why? Why do you want me?" he said beginning to understand something after all the years he had known her.

"Because I love you," she whispered again

Naruto took a small step to her but was stopped by Hinata embracing him in a bone crushing hug as she tried not to faint.

"Because I love you, Naruto-kun and I want to marry you."

* * *

Ken sat in silence as Hinata finished off her story. It was very late and the Uzumaki needed to get home soon. Hiashi smiled in a happy mood and picked up the story.

"After that it was a simple matter. After a month of seeing Hinata in private talking and getting to know her better, Naruto came forward with his copy of the betrothal. The clan had no choice but to concede to it or lose more than mere prestige. Hinata getting married to a person 'more noble' rank allowed her to step out of secession and Hanabi took over as heir. With having the Caged Bird Seal hang over her head for so many years, she plans on getting rid of it entirely over the next generation. She is currently the most capable in the clan with the Gentle Fist and has the support of all the younger members of the clan. She will not even learn the activation seal from me and I approve of that."

"Hinata and Naruto married on the first day of the New Year shortly after she turned 18. But all their happiness came to an end when Naruto disappeared on a mission and Hinata found she was pregnant. The clan fulfilled their part of the contract in the Uzumaki compound and I had the gate installed there. The children were what made things better. No trace of anything demonic in them but they both already show signs of huge chakra reserves and an increased rate of healing much like Naruto has."

"Young Hizashi is already at a pace to be better with Gentle Fist than even Neji was. Although, I think the choice of his name did more to bring the clan around than anything else. It certainly pandered to the boy's grandfather and 'uncle'."

Hinata blushed at that remark and stood stretching. "We need to get the kids home and to their own beds. I think both passed out hours ago in the play room." The children were gently carried over to the Uzumaki household in silence and put into their beds. Hinata softly kissed Ken's scarred cheek before allowing him to enter his room and she retreated into hers for the night.

* * *

Next Chapter: Trouble With Seals

* * *

**End Notes:** I know some people will not like how I killed off Naruto's mom in this, but I have always found that her dying in childbirth was totally a lame excuse. So, I had her die from a massive injury inflicted during the Kyuubi attack. I was not trying to be sadistic or evil about it but rather add to the sense of tragedy.

I have had a person mention in private that hinata seems to alternate between a strong hinata and a weepy Hinata in this story. I felt that while she is a strong woman now; the whole business with a Naruto returned to her but not knowing anything was causing her a lot of emotional turmoil.

No review notes this time.


	7. Trouble with Seals

It has been nearly a month since my last update. Getting through 2 holidays, 5 birthdays in immediate family and an entire weekend ruined thanks to the city inspector not liking my lack of yard maintenance means my writing takes a back seat to life. Now, on with the story. (Yes this is nearly identical to the one from my other story. I wrote it, I can copy it.)

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* * *

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Trouble With Seals

* * *

Kakashi looked at all the blondes in his office and sighed. 'I think every adult blonde in the village is here right now.' Ken merely sat beside Tsunade listening to Inoichi describe the process he and a trio of other Yamanaka would go about working on the memory seal keeping Naruto trapped in Ken's mind.

"The most difficult task we have is not in the main seal itself. If it was that alone, we would have removed it the first day. The problem lies in the additions to it made by whoever put the seal on Ken. From the research I have done, it closely resembles the work of Orochimaru before he fled Konoha."

Tsunade growled at that, "Orochimaru? That means Sound is behind what happened to Naruto?"

"It appears that might be the case. Let me explain a few things we have managed to come up with in Intelligence. Information we have on Sound shows Uchiha took it over shortly after Naruto destroyed Akatsuki in the Konoha Invasion. One idea we have come up with that fits our data is that Uchiha is planning something mainly in regards to his original team, Team 7. First, Naruto disappears but is apparently not dead. Second, in the initial attacks, Haruno Sakura disappeared from this very building. Third, before Kakashi-sama took office, the attack on him by Sound and Uchiha himself merely destroyed his Sharingan eye when they could have killed him outright. In fact, every other ninja known to have been at the mercy of Sound has been killed."

"Now Sound has been extremely 'generous' in the past to return the body of every slain Konoha ninja to the village. This is mainly a morale ploy but it gives us a chance to know something into the mind of Uchiha. Finding Naruto, Ken, has changed things in how we viewed the plans of Uchiha. The valley Ken was found in is very isolated and a week's travel for a ninja from the place he was ambushed at eight years ago. This indicates he was placed there deliberately. Sakura has never turned up as an operative for Sound so we are now assuming she is being held somewhere as well. One analyst put out the idea that Uchiha was saving his team for last."

"With that in mind we looked over the parts of the seal unfamiliar to us. It turns out many of the components _were_ familiar just never in that combination before. The add-on works like a key to removing the main seal but only if certain conditions are met. If the right conditions do not exist, one portion of the seal will act as an explosive tag and blow Ken's head apart."

"Ouch," muttered Ken.

Kakashi looked up at Inoichi, "But you have no idea what that condition may be at this time, correct?"

Inoichi nodded glumly, "Correct, Hokage-sama."

"Then, what is your plan, Inoichi?"

"My clansmen and I would try to partially 'lift' the main seal and try to 'peek under it'. Basically, open a temporary hole in the seal to see Naruto's last day. If we can see Naruto's last memory regarding the sealing itself we might get a clue into the key for removing it entirely."

"What kind of danger would that put Ken in?" Tsunade asked angrily.

"If I make a mistake, both of us will die," Inoichi replied.

* * *

Tsunade walked with Ken back towards the Uzumaki home in silence. Hinata and the twins were off doing things with Hiashi so they had the place to themselves until the Yamanaka were ready for Ken. Ken surprised Tsunade by speaking up once they had closed the gate behind them.

"How important is Naruto to you? To this place? I understand what he is to Hinata, but why so much effort for one person?"

"That is a tough one to answer, Ken. It is a very complicated situation. There is a lot about Naruto we have not told you about; a lot of things that we can't explain in simple words."

"Please, tell me what you can, Tsunade?"

"Well, Naruto was an orphan and a prankster. He was loud and occasionally both an idiot and a genius. He never went back on his word and he never gave up on anything he set his mind to do. Kakashi once dubbed him Konoha's number one most surprising knucklehead ninja. He found unconventional answers to conventional situations."

"But even that does not justify all this effort, Tsunade. There has to be more to it. Ninja are all over the place here. What good is one more?"

Tsunade sighed softly, "He had a special power, Ken. He could make people better just by them getting to know him even a little bit. He changed so many for the better, one person at a time. He saved me from my own pain and brought me back to be Hokage even after I swore to never set foot in this place again. He made Hinata strong enough to defy her own clan just for a chance to be with him. Every day he made Konoha better than it was the day before."

"When he was taken from us, only a few people noticed right away but the entire village noticed it soon enough. Something was missing. It seems that Naruto was much more than just a ninja; he was the Soul of the Village."

"The soul of the village?"

"I know it sounds like mystical nonsense but it's true. In each generation, one Konoha ninja rises above all others to lead and inspire others. Something my old sensei Sarutobi Hiruzen called the Will of Fire. Most of the time, that person ends up becoming Hokage. My grandfather the First had it, my uncle the Second as well, then sensei as Third. Naruto's father came next as Fourth. When the Fourth died, it seemed to disappear even though the Third took the lead once more."

"After a time, Naruto appeared with it. He was always doing the impossible and succeeding when anyone else would fail. The first Sound Invasion, finding me, the entire Akatsuki business. I was preparing for the day I could hand things over to him as Hokage when he vanished. That was when things fell apart for Konoha."

"Alliances fell apart one by one. The Sand Village pulled away after our pitiful efforts to find him. They barely talk to us now. The countries that Naruto affected did the same. One by one, they found no reason to maintain alliances with us. Gaara said it best, 'If you could so callously write off a future Hokage who was the son of a Hokage; what would an alliance with such a country be worth?'"

"No one tried at all to find Naruto?"

"Oh, I tried all right. For a month, Konoha ninja scoured the countryside looking for any trace of him, living or dead, but found nothing. Danzo and his minions whispered in the Daimyo's ear that we should not be spending our efforts on a dead man. The Daimyo agreed and ordered us to cease all searching. Any search for Naruto would have to be done through a paying contract. Only Hinata kept trying. She would never admit Naruto was dead. She said in the most certain terms, he was only locked away somewhere but not dead."

"She told me her reason the other day. You would have to ask her yourself because she asked me not to say why."

"It is because Naruto's name is still on the Toad Contract. I knew about that. Katsuyu, my slug summon, told me about it but I never pressed Hinata on it. If I had asked her about it officially, I would have to turn the contract over to the village. When the twins are old enough, they can sign it and with three consecutive generations of one family on it, it would be considered a family contract and untouchable by the village."

Tsunade sat quietly for a minute before speaking again. "But right now, Naruto will be the one thing we need more than anything else. He would be hope and we are sorely lacking in that."

Ken nodded in agreement, "There are worse reasons to risk dying, aren't there?" Then he grinned at Tsunade. "Going out with a bang for a cause beats dying on my knees before some random bandit for a hand full of copper pieces."

* * *

Ken looked at the place where he would be sitting for the attempt to peek under the seal. "Gee, you think you could make it look more like a torture device?"

Inoichi chuckled, "Well, most of our guests here are not willing visitors to this room. The restraints are strong enough to hold unwilling jonin for mental scanning. You nervous or something?"

"Nervous? Yeah, just a lot."

"You can back out of this you know. No one would fault you for it," Inoichi stated.

Ken shook his head, "No, I can't. Even if it wasn't something scary beyond reason, I gave my word that I would go through with this. Call it a fatal flaw but Hinata tells me that is a trait I share with Naruto."

Inoichi helped Ken into the chair and applied the bindings so he would be held motionless.

Inoichi nodded to his clansmen and made his jutsu to enter Ken's mind.

Inoichi found himself in the sewer foundry he discovered last time in Ken's mind. Ken looked around in a curious fashion, as he had never seen such a thing before.

"It resembles Kama's foundry but why is it in a sewer?"

"Likely that is a holdover from Naruto. Since his life was not a good one in his early years, his mindscape must have been like a sewer and full of bad memories."

"Hinata did not talk much about Naruto's past in much detail. It seems there is a lot about him people are holding back from me. But you talk to me like I am not Naruto. Why is that?"

"You're a separate personality from Naruto, Ken. I have done enough mind walking to realize that much. The hard part will come about when the seal comes off. It could erase you leaving just Naruto's personality. It could erase Naruto leaving Ken's personality with Naruto's memories filtering in. Or the two of you could merge into something new entirely. I think since Naruto was so experienced with the Shadow Clone technique and assimilating the clones' experiences, the two of you will end up merging in some fashion."

Inoichi stood before the 'wall' that lead to Naruto's memories and looked back to Ken.

"I have scrolled back through all of your memories back to the moment you awoke in that valley, Ken. Now I need to get my clansmen to do their part." Inoichi faded from view slightly before reforming and nodding at Ken. "This will hurt a bit, Ken."

The wall in front of the pair began to glow as the Yamanaka outside activated their jutsu.

A pinhole appeared in the wall and the pair were surrounded by the last memories of Naruto.

* * *

_Naruto grumbled as he leapt to another tree. He got called away from his honeymoon vacation early to deliver a stinking message to the Land of Birds. The mission was bumped up in rank because he was specifically requested to make the delivery. The pair of chunin accompanying him kept out of his line of sight on his flanks. They were unfamiliar to him but the local daimyo had said non-allied ninja passing through needed an escort. In a few hours, he would be at the Land of Birds and rid of them. He could take the long way back on his return trip and avoid this area._

_The trees thinned out up ahead as Naruto approached farmland. He hated traveling by roads. Most ninja hated being out in the open. He just hopped to the ground and never broke pace as he headed down the farmland road._

_An explosion erupted beneath his feet and he was thrown to the side into a field. Naruto shook his head lightly as he got up and scanned the area. A dozen ninja wearing Sound headbands surrounded him and the pair of chunin._

_One called out to him, "Surrender, Leaf Scum!"_

_"As if. So how is your boss, Sasuke-teme doing lately? I have not had a chance to kick back and chat with him in a while."_

_"Do not disrespect Uchiha-sama, jinchuuriki. A dozen of you would not even be close to the man he is."_

_"Oh, you mean he got that fat?" Naruto laughed at how that made the Sound ninja bristle. "If you boys would kindly step aside, I'll be on my way and you can tell Sasuke I ran into you."_

_"You can tell me yourself, Dobe," Naruto heard a voice call out._

_"Oh, hey Teme! I see you still like the butt bow your sugar daddy left for you. I think you really should look into something more manly."_

_Sasuke growled. "You never change, Dobe. Your life is in danger and you still do not take things seriously."_

_"Nah, if I was in danger I would be long out of here, Teme."_

_Whatever, Dobe. I heard you got married to the Hyuuga girl last month. You never invited me to the ceremony."_

_"Yeah, well, friends of the bride on one side. Friends of the groom on the other. No place in the seating chart for people who say they want to destroy Konoha. You know how it goes."_

_"Hn." Sasuke inclined his head to his ninja, "Attack."_

_The dozen Sound ninja all rushed forward to engage Naruto and the pair of chunin with kunai. A brief scuffle drove the Sound ninja back with minor cuts and the trio standing protecting each other's backs._

_"You really need better quality ninja, Teme. I am not ever sweating yet," Naruto taunted._

_"Hn." Sasuke made a hand seal and the ninja on Naruto's right exploded in a fireball that engulfed Naruto. "They were never meant to."_

_The fireball faded to show Naruto laying on the ground with the right side of his face badly burnt and all the hair on that side of his head was ash. A blow to the head finished the job the explosion started and Naruto fell unconscious._

_Naruto woke in pain unlike anything he had felt before. He could barely open his right eye and his left was swollen and had blood running into it._

_"Ah, you're awake Dobe. Good. I was hoping you would be awake for this part. It is so much more fun when the victim is awake for his defeat."_

_"Not … defeated … yet … Teme," Naruto stammered out._

_Sasuke chuckled evilly, "You still don't get this whole thing was a trap set just for you, Dobe."_

_Naruto slowly pulled his hands into the sign for his favorite jutsu but nothing happened._

_"Orochimaru kept massive notes on everything, Dobe. A doubled Five Point seal over your Kyuubi seal to lock up both yours and its chakra. Orochimaru's first attempt at the Chunin Exams years ago was unstable and a double should mesh nicely and prevent even the tiniest of leakage. You will have to learn to get by without it. Ah, but then again, you won't care. When we meet again, it won't matter. Konoha will be gone and you will have missed it all. I'll give my regards to your wife."_

_As Sasuke talked, he was drawing on Naruto's forehead._

_Naruto's eyes were drifting closed as he saw Sasuke's Sharingan eyes activate and he muttered, "Lock." before he made a series of hand signs and pressed his palm against Naruto's forehead and muttered, "Seal."_

_Naruto's view faded to black._

* * *

Inoichi and Ken stood stunned at what they had witnessed.

"This is a major complication," Inoichi muttered. He looked at Ken and spoke up, "Lets get back to the world and we can tell the Hokage what we have seen."

"I hope you understood it because I sure as heck don't," grumbled Ken.

Kakashi leaned back as Inoichi and Ken related what they had seen in Naruto's last memory.

"Uchiha was always one to brag. The part about the dual five point seals for the chakra we already knew about and can remove those at any time. The difficult part is the memory seal. In order to unlock the secondary potion of it is something no one in Konoha has; a Sharingan eye.

**(A/N I was sooooooo tempted to end the chapter here)**

Kakashi's frown was visible through his mask. "This clears up one other mystery. It explains why Sasuke had gone to such great lengths to destroy Obito's eye." Kakashi pointed at the patch over his left eye. "I think we must be glad for his arrogance once more."

"When he had me beaten and sliced the eye, he just sliced and never followed up on it. He merely assumed he destroyed the eye. But, I did something I had never done before that day; I flinched."

Kakashi lifted up his eye patch to show a badly damaged but partially functional eye bathed in green chakra.

"Years of seeing different jutsu taught me a bit more than basic first aid and I managed to get to the eye fast enough to partially preserve it with a stasis jutsu. When I remove the jutsu, I can use it once before it stops functioning completely. Tsunade agreed with me that keeping it a secret, as an ace in the hole against Sasuke would be the best course of action. I think this might be a good use for it. Don't you?"

Ken was still confused but Inoichi was smiling. "You already know the basic unsealing technique from your days in ANBU Hokage-sama. We believe they would be the same." Inoichi recited a list of signs used by Sasuke to make the memory seal.

"Ah, one extra in the beginning, that must be the lock sign. I would have about 10 seconds before the eye stops functioning completely so I have to get it right the first time." Kakashi alerted a messenger to get Tsunade to meet them at the hospital.

* * *

Tsunade arrived shortly after Ken and Kakashi were waiting in an exam room.

"We are only going to get one shot at this, Ken. You ready?" Kakashi asked.

Ken just nodded and lay back on the table. Tsunade attached a brain activity monitor and backed up to let Kakashi access the seal on Ken's forehead.

Kakashi pulled off the eye patch and took a few deep breaths. He silently ran through the hand seals needed to remove the memory seal once to make sure he remembered them properly.

"Tsunade, on my mark, release the stasis jutsu to the eye. I will need the extra two seconds it would take to refocus my chakra from doing it myself."

Tsunade placed her finger on Kakashi's left temple and waited.

"Now."

"Release"

The green glow faded from Kakashi's Sharingan eye. Blood and fluid gushed out of the ruined eye as Kakashi flooded it with chakra and his hands went into motion barely a second later.

His hands sped through the needed seals as the seconds ticked away.

At nine seconds, he finished and pressed his palm to Ken's forehead and said, "Release" He rapidly made one additional sign and muttered "Unlock." before grunting and leaning forward in pain and pressing his hand to the ruined and now useless Sharingan eye.

Tsunade pressed her own fingers to Kakashi's forehead and said, "Sleep" as her forced sleep jutsu overwhelmed the one eyed man.

The readout on the brain monitor was fluctuating wildly as the scarred man gasped and writhed but she took no sign of his head exploding as a good omen.

The brain activity monitor spiked then nearly flat-lined before coming back up to sleep levels as Ken passed out.

"Now, we wait." Tsunade called in a pair of nurses and a gurney for Kakashi and told them to prepare him for surgery. She would be doing it herself. "Send word to Uzumaki Hinata that Ken is in the hospital. She will want to be here when he wakes up."

* * *

Kakashi sat up with a start as he woke and realized Tsunade had hit him with a sleep jutsu. Several people in the room turned to look at him and many smiled. Inoichi nodded at him but Hinata had only glanced before turning back to the person on the other bed in the room.

Tsunade gave him a sly grin and walked around the bed to look him over.

"Hmmm, you woke faster than I expected you to once I lifted that jutsu." She ran a glowing green hand over the left side of his face and nodded before gently lifting the bandages. "Open the left one, Kakashi, I want to see it."

Warily Kakashi opened his left eye and was amazed to be seeing out of it. He felt no chakra drain like he always had from Obito's eye.

Tsunade gave him a smug look, "Well, the color doesn't quite match the original but I figure it is close as we can get. No sense in sealing off a perfectly good optical nerve when medical jutsu can replace the missing eye again. Welcome back to the world of full time binocular vision, Hokage-sama."

"Full time? When? How? Why?" Kakashi stammered.

"About four hours ago, a tissue donor a few years back who matched yours close enough to save and someone who is not a field medic to perform a routine surgery thank you very much, and because you deserved it."

"How is Ken doing?" Kakashi asked as he tried to get used to keeping both eyes open at once again.

Tsunade pointed past Hinata at the quiet Ken.

"No change since he passed out after the unsealing. His brain activity spikes every so often but he has not woken yet. No telling what is going on in there."

* * *

Ken was lost inside of a massive labyrinth of sewer tunnels. Several times he needed to backtrack and start over. He could find his way back to his starting point easily enough. His search had uncovered many caches of Naruto's memories but so far, he had found no trace of Naruto's core 'personality'. A good portion of the memories Ken had scanned were bad enough to make him wonder why he even bothered to want them. Tsunade and Kakashi were in for an earful when he got back out of here.

Ken turned to the last passage he had yet to try and slowly descended into the murky depths and sloshed through the mental sewerage contained within.

The tunnel opened out into a large open area. A wall on the far side glowed red and lit up the blackness. On a pallet in front of the light lay the object of his search. The still form of Uzumaki Naruto lay as if sleeping. The young unscarred face looked peaceful to Ken as the older man stood looking down at the younger.

The older man laid his hand on the chest of Naruto. Ken could feel his own life slipping toward Naruto as he looked down. "There can be only one and Hinata loves Naruto not Ken. So, for both of your happiness, its time for you to wake up."

* * *

The brain monitor spiked again as eyelids fluttered over cerulean blue eyes and slowly opened. Blue eyes looked to one side and met lavender tinted white ones. A weary lopsided smile emerged on his mouth as his voice whispered, "Hime, Ken never said that you make the most beautiful children in the universe."

Tears ran down Hinata's face as she heard the voice. The timber was Ken's but it was so familiar as well. "Naruto?" she whispered.

A slight nod followed. "Inoichi was right. I am sort of Naruto and sort of Ken but Naruto is the right name for me. Like all of my shadow clone memories, Ken's just seemed to fit right into place where they needed to be. I have missed you Sunshine."

Hinata leaned over close and hugged her Naruto tightly and began to cry, "Welcome home, Beloved."

* * *

Next Chapter: Moving Ahead, A Ninja Returns

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End Notes:

I got a little heavy on the mindscape stuff and I hope I did not lose anyone. So ends the opening arc of this story. I am sorry to see Ken go away but he is not truly gone, just better.

I will not take any heat on the bit with Kakashi's stasis jutsu for his eye. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. The eye allowed him to learn jutsu; it had nothing with his ability to cast them.

**Review Notes:**

One reviewer, Ksai, mentioned that he did not like Ken's reactions to things and how Naruto would not react that way. I told him that Ken was not Naruto. Ken was a separate personality that developed inside the body of Naruto after all the memories and experiences that made up Naruto were sealed off. He had a different viewpoint and goals based on his own experiences and I felt that with a great enough shock, he could faint. I hope my private message to him was good enough to keep him as a reader.

Details that the betrothal contract affect will be touched on in the future as Naruto learns more as his Ken memories add to what he knew before.

Flashbacks are over and the past is present. There will be no long windy monologues to interrupt battles.


	8. Moving Ahead, A Ninja Returns

**Moving Ahead, A Ninja Returns**

Naruto lay quietly in his hospital bed after waking the following morning. His thoughts were much less troubled than he had feared they would be. His mind was still recovering from the shock of the merging of Ken and his old Naruto memories but as he told Hinata the night before; Naruto was the correct name for him. He chuckled to himself as he realized before Ken he would have been trying to escape from the hospital already. It would take some getting used to and some time before he found the proper balance between Ken's memories and outlook and Naruto's memories and outlook.

Naruto had been hyperactive, optimistic and never took the time to think about his actions before taking them. In contrast to that Ken was reserved, slightly jaded and thoughtful. It was so similar to the differences in his parents that he was still thinking about it. Naruto was just like Uzumaki Kushina and Ken was most like Namikaze Minato. He knew his personality was still fragile and needed a few weeks to adjust to the differing mental viewpoints attached to each of his memories.

Hinata would be by later on with the twins. That would be something when the truth was revealed to them. After meeting them as Ken, how would they accept him as Naruto and Father? He figured that Kushina would be most open to the fact while Hizashi would take a few days before coming around once he thought about it. Having children was both a shock and a pleasure. He understood why Hinata had limited his exposure to them prior to his memories being unsealed and agreed with her reasoning. If the mental unsealing had failed, he would either be mindless or dead. Better that the children then remember Ken as a stranger who stayed for a few days than as Daddy. They would better understand the reasons in time.

Finally pulling himself out of the bed, Naruto felt a strange dichotomy in his movements. He knew his movements were normal but they also did not match the ones he once had as a ninja. This would fade in time as he recovered. Exercise was the only means to overcome the feeling. His muscles were in good shape for a civilian but much below that of a trained ninja. He had lost some of his old flexibility but gained much more physical strength in the past 8 years. Hauling around iron ingots and wielding a twenty-pound hammer on a daily basis would do that to a man.

He dressed slowly. Once more, the strange dualism of the act faded as he moved. Civilian clothing felt both strange and comforting. The sash of rank among smiths was held and stared at for a few moments before that was added in its proper place. A slight smile appeared on his scarred face as he remembered Sarutobi Asuma and the jonin's own sash indicating his standing as one of the Twelve Guardians. The memory was a good one as Naruto now understood the feelings behind possessing something earned through hard work it was the same as earning his forehead protector.

Naruto finally glanced up at the clock. It was time.

* * *

Hinata was not having a good morning. She had barely slept because she wanted to stay with Naruto. It had taken a promise from Tsunade staying in the hospital in case anything happened to get her to go home to the children. Neither child had appreciated getting dressed up to go to the hospital so early in the morning and made their displeasure known loud and at length. Hinata just bore it, as she would be hugging her husband again soon.

The Uzumaki family strode through the near empty streets and the personality of each was evident by their motions. Hinata was pure mother and ninja lioness as she would protect her young children to the death if need be as any true mother would. Hizashi looked controlled but as if he deserved to be in his fine clothes; proud but not haughty. Kushina was walking along beside her mother in the normal quickened step of a child trying to keep up with an adult. Her face was calm and a small smile was on her face for each person she passed.

The family entered the hospital and was met by a smiling Tsunade. Hizashi and Kushina both bowed properly before rushing over to hug their 'aunt'. Hyuuga blood ran true into the children. The effect of Hiashi on the twins was that they would comport themselves properly in public but that would break down when with people they cared most about.

"It's time," Tsunade said with a smile.

* * *

Naruto heard the knock on the door and looked to see it open. Tsunade walked in followed by the twins and Hinata. Her smile almost lit up the room by itself. That very smile has been the reason for his nickname of Sunshine by Naruto. His own lopsided smile was uncomfortable due to his scarring but his own eyes lit up into the brilliant blue that Hinata remembered most fondly.

Hizashi paused at seeing Naruto. "You're different," he bluntly stated.

Naruto turned his attention to his son and nodded. "I have a lot to say to you and your sister and I hope you will listen first."

Hizashi looked at Kushina who just smiled and nodded before he nodded himself.

Naruto thought for a minute before getting down on one knee to be at the level of the twins.

"Well, do you know why a lot of your cousins in the Hyuuga wear headbands and such?"

Hinata just raised an eyebrow as Hizashi thought before speaking; "Aunt Hanabi said that most of the Hyuuga have a seal on their foreheads marking them as part of the branch family. She doesn't like it. She said it was bad and can hurt them."

"It sounds like your Aunt Hanabi is a very smart woman. It does make what I have to say easier since you have some idea about what I am going to explain. I used to live here in Konoha before you were born. Some bad people stole me away when I was on a mission and put a seal on my forehead that took away my memories and made me forget this place. Your mother found me a few weeks ago and brought me back here to Konoha. The Hokage and Aunt Tsunade took it off my forehead last night and now I remember everything from before it was put on me"

"So now you remember how you got your owies?" Kushina spoke up.

"Yes, Kushina, I remember now how I got my owies and a whole lot more than that. Now, I remember and can tell you who I really am. I am Uzumaki Naruto and I'm your Daddy."

Hizashi looked shocked and Kushina's eyes got wide. Both turned to look at Hinata who was smiling and nodded at the twins. Kushina jumped forward and wrapped her arms around Naruto with a cry of "DADDY!" while Hizashi just looked at him suspiciously.

"How do I know you're not lying?" he said in a tense voice.

"I am telling the truth, Hizashi. Even your training your grandfather gave you would tell you that."

"You left Mommy all alone!"

"It wasn't my choice. The bad man from Sound locked away any memory I had of Konoha and your Mom. If I had remembered anything about this place I would have come here no matter what. I missed so much and I missed your entire life. All my time as Ken, I wished for a family and I had one here waiting for me. I missed all of you and I am finally glad to know you."

Tears ran down Naruto's face as he spoke. Hinata was tearing up as well and Kushina just hung onto Naruto for dear life. Hizashi was not quite willing to admit that he was as happy as the rest so he just grumbled.

"If you hurt my Mommy I'm going to beat you up."

Naruto laughed loudly as his son threatened him. Hinata knelt behind Hizashi and hugged her son.

Tsunade backed out of the room and let the family have some privacy as the twins began to bombard Naruto with questions. Kakashi was waiting there in his Hokage robes. She looked at the silver haired leader with one eyebrow raised.

"So, coming to draft him back into service already?"

"No, not yet. We still have to unseal his chakra and he is badly out of shape on top of that. We are waiting a week before unsealing his chakra to make sure he is mentally stable. Also to give him some time with his family."

Kakashi sighed then.

"Tsunade, so far I have kept a tight lid on this from a majority of the clans and civilians to prevent spies from learning what we have done. Too many people know we found Naruto but only a very few know that we managed to unseal his memories. I want to keep that at a minimum for right now. I expect Sound to react to the news soon enough. Uchiha is going to do something about this and we need to be ready for it."

"One point I felt I should tell you personally, Tsunade. Given what we learned about Naruto and the theory that Intelligence came up with; I have changed Sakura's status from Missing Nin to plain Missing."

Tsunade's lip trembled for a moment before she smiled again, "Thank you, Kakashi."

* * *

The entire Uzumaki family walked down the street at Tsunade's best pace. Naruto was carrying Kushina while Hizashi walked between Hinata and Tsunade.

"Not even an hour and she is already a Daddy's Girl," Tsunade joked.

Hinata smiled, "She always was. She practiced enough on her Grandfather."

Naruto turned down one street, which caused both Hinata and Tsunade to frown. "Kuso, he is heading for it," Tsunade muttered.

Hinata spoke up, "Naruto, the house is the other direction."

Naruto smiled back, "I know. I want to go this way."

Hinata stopped, "Naruto, please. There are a lot of things you don't know yet."

Naruto stopped and looked back.

"It's gone, Naruto. Ichiraku's Ramen is gone."

Naruto shuddered. "When?"

"One of the first terror attacks. They were specifically made on places that you loved. Ichiraku's. Your old apartment building. They even blew up the tree swing in the Academy yard. Everyone figured it was done to remind us all that you were not here to protect us any longer."

"Old Man Teuchi? Ayame?"

"Gone. It was lunchtime when the bombs went off."

"Daddy? You're crying," Kushina whimpered.

"Sorry, sweetie. The bad man from Sound took away more than I thought. I'll be okay in a few minutes."

Kushina had seen the devastated look on Aunt Tsunade enough times. She wrapped her arms tightly around Naruto's neck and hugged.

"I … I need to see it," Naruto said a few minutes later.

The family walked in silence to the former Ichiraku site. A small shrine stood there instead dedicated to the memory of all civilians killed in terror attacks. Naruto paused to look but did not enter. Then he turned and headed back to the compound.

Hinata knew Naruto was hurting but there was not much else she could do for him right now. Once the family arrived, Tsunade made an excuse about needing to get herself and the children a snack and led then toward the kitchen.

Naruto sat heavily in the main room. "Who else is gone?"

I am not sure what Tsunade mentioned. But it is not good, Naruto. Only the old Team 8 is intact because we were in town that first day. Sakura disappeared and was labeled a Missing Nin. Shizune and TonTon were killed in Tsunade's office. A lot of people think she did the killing and went over to the Sound but Tsunade denies that idea. According to Shikamaru, Sound forces ambushed Team Asuma and they were almost clear of it when Ino went down. Choji went berserk at that and attacked them. He went through all three of his family's pills before Shikamaru could stop him. He took down the entire ambush force alone before dying holding onto Ino."

"Neji got blinded in his team's ambush. Team Guy had been attacked by several curse mark Sound troops. TenTen was injured which distracted Neji and he got hit in the face with acid because of it. Both Guy and Lee opened to the Fifth Gate to destroy their enemies. Neither one of them has shouted about youth since that day. Both also wear standard jonin outfits now."

"Konohamaru lost Udon when he had to choose between saving him or Moegi. He is a jonin now and takes as many missions as he can. He has not forgiven himself for having to be forced to choose between his friends."

Naruto did not want to ask this next one but he had to know. "What about Iruka-sensei?"

"He is still alive. He stopped teaching after you disappeared and took up a jonin rank and a squad. He looked for you nearly as much as I did. Eventually, he was forced to stop like the rest of us. Shortly after that, Anko-san literally dragged him to a priest and married him. They have a pair of boys right now."

"But, he changed after the war started again and he became very violent to anyone related to Sound. He works with Konohamaru most of the time and is out in the field more often than not. He has not been back to Konoha since before you returned."

Naruto nodded. He knew if Iruka had heard of Naruto's return, the former teacher would have been one of the first to come see him.

Naruto shuddered again. "Tsunade baachan said Root defected that day as well. What about Sai? He was a part of that group."

"Sai is listed as a missing nin along with all the known members of Root."

"Yamato?"

"He is still with ANBU as far as I know. No one else really close that I can think of. I know it's a shock Naruto-kun but it all goes back to Uchiha and his stupid idea of vengeance. Shikamaru said once it was all like a big game of shogi. You were the first piece captured and removed from the game. Once you were out of the way, Uchiha could afford to sacrifice his pawns for stronger pieces."

"It figures Shika would put it in those terms. Everything is shogi to him."

"I have been kept off of active duty for the most part because of the twins. I help in the hospital along with Tsunade on her good days. I have noticed one disturbing trend in the Sound attacks. Beginning with the opening ambushes, Sound forces push extra hard to attack any female on a team. That tends to get the men to lose focus and become reckless like it did to Neji and Choji. Kakashi-sama pulled nearly all kunoichi from the battlefields and missions that might encounter Sound. That move alone has cost us nearly a third of our remaining troop strength."

"I remember asking Tsunade yesterday why I was so important. She said I represent hope. There seems to be very little of that to be had around here."

Hinata moved from where she had been sitting to kneel in front of Naruto before sliding onto his lap. "I am sure that is true for most people in Konoha but my reasons are not quite the same. They needed hope. I just needed my Naruto-kun back." Then she kissed him.

A timid squeak sounded behind them as the couple looked up to see Tsunade smirking at them with Kushina hiding behind her and peeking out. Hizashi just looked miffed.

"Meh, get a room you two," Tsunade taunted as both Hinata and Naruto blushed deeply.

That night as Naruto moved to go into his room, Hinata stopped him. "Our room is over here, Naruto."

Naruto looked and saw her soft smile and the invitation in her eyes, "Since he has returned, I wish to be with my husband once more."

Naruto walked into the master bedroom and slid the door closed behind him.

* * *

Naruto bowed to Hiashi as he entered the office of the Hyuuga leader. "It is good to see you in my right mind again, Hiashi-sama I have a request that I hope you will allow. If possible, I would ask if I could use the forge within the Hyuuga estate."

"An interesting request, Naruto. We can leave the formalities behind since we are past greetings and you are family now. The forge has not been used in many years."

"I understand that. It is more for my own peace of mind than anything else right now. I always found during my time as Ken that working the metal relaxed me. Now it would serve as a focus for my recovery from my ordeal. Years ago, I would have merely made a thousand clones and destroyed a training area. Today, I must keep a much lower profile. I also could see how feasible it would be to run on a more active basis. All costs would be covered from my own funds naturally."

Hiashi thought for a moment before nodding. "I will allow it. It would not take much to use the building as it has been maintained. As I have no doubt you could run the forge by yourself, I would still request that you have someone with you."

"I had thought about my children. The time together would be good for us both."

"I was thinking of someone closer to your own age, Naruto. I wish for Neji to be there. He needs to be out more. That is my condition for use of the forge."

* * *

Naruto stood in the long unused forge. The place had been cleaned recently so he was not worried about needing to take care of that task. He inspected the building and found some small ingots remaining in the storage shed. The anvil had a light coating of rust but that would be worked off soon enough. The coal bin was empty and the bellows needed some work but otherwise the building was ready for use. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he waited for Neji to arrive. It would be good to mold metal again.

The door creaked open behind him as he heard the approach of a cart. 'That must be Neji and the kids with the coal,' he thought.

Naruto turned to see Neji walking next to a cart with his head down. His hair was greasy and unkempt and hung over his face. His appearance overall disheveled. Hizashi was walking beside him while Kushina was bouncing up and down in the cart itself next to the driver. Both children were dressed in old clothing and looked expectant. The man driving the cart dumped the coal into the bin from a chute to the outside and departed. Neji was silent through the entire process and never raised his head.

'Now I understand what Hinata meant about 'the old Neji'. This 'new' Neji is not even a shadow of what he used to be.'

"Neji," said Naruto in a quiet tone.

Neji's head never came up but he replied, "Naruto-sama."

Naruto frowned at the tone Neji used. "I am not your better, Neji. I am still just Naruto."

Neji's head shifted slightly as he shook his head no. "I am nothing now, Naruto-sama. Hiashi-sama has forbidden me to take my own life and I am nothing."

Hizashi looked up at Neji and frowned. "Uncle Neji, stop that. Grandfather said for you to stop acting like this."

"Yeah Uncle Neji."

"I have told you time and again, I am not your uncle. I am your mother's cousin. That makes you both my cousins."

Kushina pouted cutely, "Mommy said to call you Uncle because even if you do not think so, you are worthy of respect."

Neji sighed and finally looked up at Naruto. A single brown eye peered at him through the hair hanging over Neji's face. "Hiashi-sama told me to attend you and render whatever aid you need with the forge."

Naruto took a few moments to get over his shock before nodding and began his instructions on stoking the forge.

Over the next hour, they managed to get the fire alight. Naruto gave brief but clear instructions to Neji on how to keep the coals lit and brought to the proper temperature. Satisfied, Naruto placed a few pieces of iron and some old bent kunai into the heat and waited.

Once the metal knives were glowing red, Naruto pulled one out with tongs and began to pound on it. The sound of the hammer hitting metal was satisfying to Naruto. It only took him a few strikes on each to get the kunai to the desired shape. As he worked the metal he came upon an idea. He smiled inwardly as he thought of Master Kama and the man's antics the first time Ken had worked in the forge.

"Bah, this metal is worthless!" Naruto suddenly cried out startling his children and Neji. "I am going to have to start all over again. Neji, come over here. I need your help."

Neji raised his head completely for the first time and looked at Naruto. "But I know nothing of being a smith," he quietly protested.

Naruto made a face of disdain much like he remembered Kama use, "Then you are going to get your first lesson, apprentice."

Neji mouthed an additional protest when Naruto bellowed, "MOVE!!" The twins just looked at him and scurried behind the coal bin to hide.

Naruto took tongs from one side and lifted a small block of metal from the coals and placed it on the anvil, "Take the hammer and hit this iron, Neji. We need to see if we can make a fresh kunai from it."

Neji lifted Naruto's heavy hammer and grunted at the weight of it before letting it fall on the glowing metal. It barely dented the block.

Naruto grunted and sneered lightly, "I said hit it, not tap it."

Neji lifted the hammer and brought it down again harder. The dent got slightly deeper.

"Neji, if I wanted a child to hit that I would have asked Hizashi to do it. Again."

Once more Neji lifted the hammer and brought it down. This time he got a light thwacking sound from the hammer falling.

"Are you afraid of that metal, Neji? It cannot hurt you yet. Hit it like you are a man not a scared little boy."

Naruto noticed his taunts beginning to have an effect on Neji as the Hyuuga's shoulders tensed up.

'Almost there. One more good push should do it,' Naruto thought.

The hammer rose and fell once more, slightly harder but still not hard enough to suit Naruto. Naruto got right up next to Neji's ear like a drill sergeant and yelled at him.

"Come on, you were the best Gentle Fist user in three generations and you cannot even hit a piece of iron? I do not believe the man who was going to teach me a lesson in the Chunin Exams all those years ago cannot even hit a tiny defenseless piece of metal that can't fight back."

Neji gave out an animal noise as he lifted the hammer once more and brought it down with a resounding thwack before looking up at Naruto and glared at him.

Naruto smirked, "That's one. Now do it again nine more times."

Neji was red faced and angry now. He threw the hammer to the floor of the smithy and yelled, "Why? Why keep pushing me? I am nothing. I have nothing! I lost it all! My Gentle Fist, my Byakugan, even TenTen, even after she …" Neji stopped and lowered his head again.

"Even after she gave you one of her eyes," Naruto said softly.

Neji just nodded and dropped his head again. "She was badly hurt the day the war started. She couldn't remain being a ninja. She volunteered to donate her eye to me. She convinced me to take it and like a fool, I accepted. Things only got worse after that. I could see but I could not use my Gentle Fist. I was angry all the time because of that and one day in my frustration, I hit her. She left me and will not speak to me any longer. Whenever I try to apologize, she has someone remove me from her property."

Naruto only nodded. "How long has it been?"

"More than two years now since I struck her. I have not tried to see her in over a year now. I have watched her from a distance but she never approaches the estate."

Naruto nodded and looked at the chunk of iron on the anvil before putting it back into the coals. "You are not 'nothing', Neji. Look at my children. Look into their eyes when they see you. You are special to them. They might not understand all of your pain, but to them you are 'Uncle Neji'. Hinata considers you a brother. Your own uncle cared enough for you to help as well. That alone should make you see you are a person of worth."

Naruto took hold of Neji's shirt and pulled him close and forced the Hyuuga to look directly at him.

"Yes, you have fallen down. Right now you are like one of these broken kunai. Not worth much to anyone. But like these, you can be tossed back into the fire and get reforged into something new."

"You don't sound very much like the Naruto I remember. He would have used ramen as an example," Neji remarked quietly.

"That is because I am not the Naruto you remember, Neji. I have been through my own furnace, my own trials and tests. I had to come back from nothing just like you do. Imagine waking up and knowing nothing. Not even knowing how to speak, to move, or even to control your bodily functions. I had to relearn everything that it means to be human."

"Now, I remember everything before that day as well as everything after it. I made it back because of one ruthless little man who needed help in his workshop. Ruthless and unyielding in his demands because he saw a person of value, a person worth knowing and trusting with his craft and reputation. The difference here is that you remember how good you once were. I know a part of you wants to be like that once more."

"I am going to give you this choice one time. You are going to pick up that hammer and become useful once again or you are going to scurry out of here and prove to the world that you are not worth the air you are breathing."

Naruto finally released Neji's shirt and stepped away from him. He walked to the forge and checked it and shifted the items heating as Neji just stood in shock. The twins looked at their father with wide eyes. Naruto looked past the glowing coals and raised one eyebrow at them before making a little smirk. Both relaxed as their fear dissipated. The sound of movement made the smirk leave as he heard the hammer placed upon the anvil.

"What must I do next, Naruto-sensei?"

* * *

TenTen grumbled as she looked out of her window to find Neji still kneeling at the edge of the property, his head lowered. Her neighbors and people passing in the street were pointing and making whispered comments to one another. This was getting out of hand. He had been there since before dawn and showed no signs of leaving. She could not even have him removed because he was in the street.

Finally fed up, she limped out of the house to stand in front of the kneeling Neji, arms crossed across her chest. "What do you want, Neji-baka?"

Neji slowly reached out both hands. In his outstretched hands lay a kunai.

"What the hell is that, Neji?" she demanded.

"It is a kunai. It is the first one I made. I wish to offer it to you as a sign that I am trying to become a better person, one worthy of respect and of you."

TenTen could hear the humility in his voice. That was something she had never heard from him. The woman was torn. She missed the man she loved but she would not be used as someone's punching bag. She still had a love for all things sharp and pointy and a kunai was the fastest way to get her attention.

Tentatively, she reached out and took the kunai. She looked it over for a moment. "It's misshapen. The balance is way off and the edge is dull. It's not a very good kunai."

"I know that. I only wished to show you that I am trying. In time my work, like me, will get better and more worthy. I wanted to only tell you that I am sorry for my actions and I am trying to be a better person."

She stood in silence for some time before turning and walking back into the house. Neji just remained there with his head down until she was inside before rising and leaving.

Hours later, Neji was in the smithy with Naruto. Naruto was demonstrating something to Neji when TenTen entered.

Naruto looked up and saw her and said, "I need to take care of something. I'll be back in a bit."

Neji just stood in silence and looked at the woman he loved and hurt.

"You hit me," she finally said in a soft voice.

"It was the greatest mistake of my life," he replied.

"You can't do that ever again."

"I will not. I am learning a better outlet for my frustrations." Neji looked about awkwardly after that before saying, "I can make you a better kunai now, if you wish a better one."

TenTen pulled out the first kunai and smiled, "I'll keep this one. A reminder that neither one of us is perfect." She then walked over and hugged Neji tightly, "I don't want to lose you again."

Outside, Naruto decided that he could watch the clouds roll by a little longer.

* * *

Kakashi led Naruto out to a remote training field. A dozen ANBU stood in silence near a portable operating table. He looked over at the nervous younger man and chuckled.

"Don't worry. They will only be needed if your guest tries something. The two extra seals still on you are restraining both its and your chakra. Since we do not know which one is which, we are going to have to remove both at once. That might cause some trouble if the primary seal keeping the bijou trapped has weakened. Honestly, we do not expect trouble. But for the sake of the village we came out here."

Naruto nodded and pulled off his shirt. One of the female ANBU turned her head slightly to get a better look but Kakashi muttered, "He is married, Cat." Cat made no reply.

Naruto shook his head slowly and just lay down on the table. One of the male ANBU came over and lightly fed chakra across Naruto's stomach to reveal the seals laid out on it. Kakashi looked over the two 5 point seals and made note of the points he needed to get for each one.

"Um, you're here alone, Kakashi. Who is going to release the second seal?"

Kakashi smiled under his mask before making a very familiar hand sign. A shadow clone of Kakashi appeared and the clone just said, "I am."

"You know, these seals are a lot more basic than I thought they would be, Naruto. Even the memory seal was not that hard to release. It got me thinking that maybe in one case we overestimated the Uchiha."

"How so?" Naruto muttered nervously.

"Well, seals run off chakra put into them, but anyone with chakra can use, say a storage scroll, right?"

"Uh huh."

"Can most ninja make a storage scroll?" Kakashi asked.

"No, most never bother to learn sealing. They … they just use what someone else has created for them," Naruto understood what Kakashi was saying now. "So Sasuke only used what Orochimaru had already made himself and not really created it on his own."

"That is a very strong possibility. Ok, I am ready now Naruto. Lay still."

Naruto nodded.

"Oh, one more thing. This is going to hurt; a lot."

Kakashi and his shadow clone moved through a series of meaningless hand signs to synchronize their movement before each went through the release sequence. Each placed his hand on Naruto's stomach and in unison said, "Release."

Naruto felt a brief moment of pain and nothing more. He took a breath and was about to comment that was not so bad when an intense pain doubled him over and he rolled off the table to the ground.

* * *

In Naruto's mindscape, the red glowing wall shattered to reveal a barred cage. The bars glowed in a brilliant blue while a tide of red chakra spilled past them into the sewer tunnels.

One malevolent slit eye opened and a voice echoed out, _**"Freedom from that wretched containment seal at last."**_

* * *

Red chakra formed into a sphere yards wide around Naruto as he writhed in pain on the ground. His eyes turned red and slit pupils appeared in them. His limbs burned as the pain spread throughout his body. Smoke rose from his cheeks as the tell tale 3 whisker marks appeared on his face once more.

One ANBU panicked and moved to attack but a wave from Kakashi stopped him. "Give him a few moments first."

"**You are** not getting out **you bastard** fox," the modulating voice of Naruto sounded out as the pain began to settle down. The red chakra sphere around Naruto slowly was sucked back into his body. As it condensed, it changed to a purple color before shifting to a blue white as it finally vanished.

The watching group was suddenly blown back as a wave of chakra flew from Naruto like an explosion. The wave continued outward growing thinner as it went but everyone it passed felt it. By the time the wave had passed beyond Konoha itself, it was unseen but not unfelt.

* * *

Far to the north, a dark eyed despot shivered then glared at his minions, "What was that? It was familiar but far away. Get my spies to report in at once. All of them. I need to know what that feeling was!"

* * *

To the northeast, a dark skinned man looked to his southwest, "The time has come, don't you know. The world is changing, it's gonna blow."

* * *

In Konoha, ninja of all ranks descended on the training field with weapons drawn. Kakashi motioned them all to stand down. The scarred man on the ground struggled onto hands and knees before rearing up on his knees and throwing back his head and taking a deep breath. The ninja who could see his face saw his brilliant cerulean blue eyes almost glowing as he smiled.

"Now, I'm back."

The words carried across the field but the whispers of the ninja carried much further. Kakashi grumbled to himself, "The fox is out of the bag now."

* * *

Far to the west, a red haired man looked to his east and murmured a single word, "Naruto."

* * *

Next Chapter: Opening Moves

**

* * *

**

End Notes:

For people interested in such things, I have decided that my primary divergence point from canon is when Tsunade wants Naruto back in Konoha during the Akatsuki Invasion. In this world, the messenger frog left immediately and had not been ambushed and killed by Danzo. This left Shizune and others alive and mostly unharmed. It also did not let Pein nuke Konoha with his gravity wave.

I was hoping to set up a few things in this chapter. I really did not need to include the entire Neji and TenTen sequence but I wanted to show that things are already beginning to turn around in Konoha. The Ken influence in Naruto is still strong as that is really the more mature portion of him now.

The slightly more detailed fates of most of the primary characters of the series are revealed a well.

The whole chakra pulse / explosion is a variant of the chakra pulse created by S'TarKan in his story 'Team 8' one of the best Naruto/Hinata stories posted on this site.

**Review Notes:**

For Darak, the anonymous reviewer since I could not tell you in private, I included the small bit near the end of this chapter about Sasuke not being a sealmaster, but rather being a person who used a seal made by someone else; just like being able to drive a car does not make a person a mechanic. I had also taken into account the seals used on Naruto early on. A single 5 point in canon had been enough to hold back Kyuubi's chakra. Having two of them was sufficient to hold back Naruto's as well. The memory seal was to prevent Naruto from knowing his past and telling someone that they could merely unseal his chakra to get back to normal. As far as his burns, one, he was taken by surprise by the explosion so had no chance to even defend against it. The Chidori hole regenerating in seconds happened when he was in cloak mode so his healing without it is much slower. I doubt many people could survive the equivalent of a block of C-4 going off five feet away anyhow. He lived and the chakras sealed before the burns were regenerated. I do consider many things before I write and plot out my ideas before fleshing them out.

For Sakura fans, Sakura will return but not immediately.

For QnP, the cage itself was behind curtain number 2. (The chakra seals)


	9. Opening Moves

**Opening Moves**

_The watching group was suddenly blown back as a wave of chakra flew from Naruto like an explosion. The wave continued outward growing thinner as it went but everyone it passed felt it. By the time the wave had passed beyond Konoha itself, it was unseen but not unfelt._

_Far to the north, a dark eyed despot shivered then glared at his minions, "What was that? It was familiar but far away. Get my spies to report in at once. All of them. I need to know what that feeling was!"_

_To the northeast, a dark skinned man looked to his southwest, "The time has come, don't you know. The world is changing, it's gonna blow."_

_In Konoha, ninja of all ranks descended on the training field with weapons drawn. Kakashi motioned them all to stand down. The scarred man on the ground struggled onto hands and knees before rearing up on his knees and throwing back his head and taking a deep breath. The ninja who could see his face saw his brilliant cerulean blue eyes almost glowing as he smiled._

"_Now, I'm back."_

_The words carried across the field but the whispers of the ninja carried much further. Kakashi grumbled to himself, "The fox is out of the bag now."_

_Far to the west, a red haired man looked to his east and murmured a single word, "Naruto."_

* * *

The clan leaders were in a meeting with Kakashi. Dozens of elders from the many minor clans were pushing to be heard at once. Several clans and families, mainly the Hyuuga, Aburame, Inuzuka, Nara, Yamanaka and Akimichi sat quietly as they had already known what was happening. Messenger hawks from towns and outposts throughout the Fire Country were reporting in a chakra wave being felt. If the indications were correct, the burst might have been detected as far away as the Land of Spring far to the north.

"Naruto never does things by halves, does he?" Inoichi muttered to Choza.

The plump Akimichi leader chuckled, "He does know how to stir things up."

"He's troublesome but I've never known him to be otherwise," muttered Shikaku.

"That boy is nothing but trouble," one gray haired elder cried out. "All of his damned existence he has been the bane of Konoha!"

"Bull," called out another. "If it were not for him Konoha would have been destroyed by Orochimaru 13 years ago."

"He left us to go into hiding 8 years ago."

"Do not forget it was because of him that Pein attacked and nearly destroyed us."

"Yes, and because of him being used as a vessel that we were not destroyed by the Kyuubi. We owe him more than anyone here can repay. Every child born since that day owes their very existence to Uzumaki Naruto!"

Kakashi sighed as the shouting matches went back and forth. Finally, he held up a hand for quiet. After a few seconds, the shouting died down and the gathered leaders waited in silence for Kakashi to speak.

"First of all, Naruto did not go into 'hiding' as one of you has suggested. He was found and recovered from a location he was placed at by an enemy. As most of you know, he had disappeared on a paid mission to the Land of Birds. What we have recently discovered is that the mission was a fraud with the sole purpose of taking Naruto away from Konoha. He was ambushed by forces of the Sound and their leader placed chakra and memory seals on him. Several weeks ago he was recovered by Team Kurenai acting on a tip from an unnamed source. The chakra wave that was felt this morning was from me unsealing his chakra."

The assembled elders all tried to shout over one another as questions pummeled Kakashi. He just stood quietly until the storm passed. Once the shouting died down, he spoke again.

"He will be returned to duty as a shinobi of Konoha once his physical abilities warrant. He has had no training in the use of his chakra in eight years and his overall physical ability is that of a civilian. That is all I am going to answer right now." Kakashi stormed out of the meeting.

Kakashi came up to his office and slammed the door behind him before sinking down at the desk. 'I had almost built enough total support to go on an offensive against the Sound and now this. Konoha was on the edge of shattering completely as a village before he came back. This might just tip things past the point of no return. Why can't they all see finding Naruto is a good thing?'

* * *

Naruto stretched as he looked at the current bane of his existence. The 100 ft tall tree seemed to be mocking him as it swayed gently in the breeze. Focusing, he took two steps toward it and began to run up the trunk. 10, 20, 30 feet up before he lost control of his chakra and slipped. He fell at the ground and managed to get his feet beneath him. He rolled to absorb the impact and used what chakra he could control to reinforce his legs and not shatter the bones on impact.

"Yay Daddy!" cheered on Kushina. "That was higher than last time!"

Naruto chuckled and began to stand only to find his left leg was sore. He walked over to his daughter with a mild limp and sat down beside the blonde girl. "Daddy is a lot out of shape, Kushina. That is not as easy as I remember it to be."

"Your mind remembers it like it was yesterday, baka. But your body has not done it in eight years," chuckled Tsunade as she sat under another tree drinking tea.

Kushina pouted at Tsunade, "No calling my Daddy names, Aunt Tsunade. Mommy said it's not nice."

Naruto laughed and reached over to tickle the blonde child, "Aunt Tsunade and Daddy used to call each other names like that all the time before you were born. It is our way of showing we care. But you can't do that and have to listen to your mother. No name calling, got it?"

"Ok, Daddy. Oh, can I show you what Grandfather taught me?" The girl looked at Naruto with a bright expression and a smile.

"I would love to see it," he replied.

Kushina moved a few steps away and got into a ready stance. The girl then went through a complex series of katas in the Gentle Fist. Naruto was impressed by his daughter's movements and applauded when she was finished. Kushina beamed at her father and Tsunade.

"'Zashi-kun is a lot better at it than I am but Grandfather said I am about the same level as Mommy was. Then he smiled funny and said that it is nothing to worry about and that everyone improves at their own pace."

Naruto chuckled, "You remember a lot of things people say, Kushina. That is very good."

Kushina broke into a grin that reminded Naruto of himself, "Aunt Tsunade told me I have perfect memory. I remember everything I hear and read."

"Well, little lady, then why don't you remember to pick up your toys after you play with them?" Tsunade teased the child who blushed heavily in response.

Naruto laughed once more, "Kushina, why don't you go back into the house. I need to talk to Tsunade about some grown up stuff. I think the cook was making cinnamon buns today."

Kushina perked up at hearing her favorite food in the universe and ran toward the house.

Tsunade watched the child go before she spoke to Naruto, "That is some kid you got, Naruto."

Naruto nodded sadly, "Hinata did a wonderful job with them. I missed so much. It's a wonder she doesn't resent me for anything."

Tsunade lightly bonked him on the head, "It was not intentional, gaki. We all know that. Sure at some times she might have grumbled about killing you but that was just during her last few months of pregnancy and delivery. Mainly during labor."

"If I recall, all women say those things about men at that time. Very loudly. But on the kids, anything show up on them concerning Kyuubi?"

"Nope, I told you once already, nothing demonic in them. 100 percent human. Their chakra levels are already near chunin level but that will not be a major issue for another few years. I know mine was in a similar state at that age. The kids Byakugan are supercharged and slightly different than the Hyuuga standard. In Hizashi, he can see normal tenketsu points already. In Kushina, it manifested as a perfect memory. Show her something once and she remembers it. I tried a medical jutsu once and she recalled the entire 15 hand sign sequence in one viewing. She could not do it but if she had her Byakugan active she would have seen how the chakra moved and might have done something with it."

"Is it like the Sharingan then?" Naruto looked up with concern.

"Not really but even Hiashi is mildly concerned on that one. The Sharingan did evolve out of the Byakugan and what Kushina can do IS a step in that direction. We would need to wait to see if it is a fixed trait or just something special about Kushina. Something to watch for in her kids one day."

"Now, you did not send Kushina away to discuss her. So, what is it?"

"Well, I know this sounds vain but I was wondering if there was anything you could do about my face?"

Tsunade smirked, "Not too vain but honestly outside of some cosmetic work, there is not a lot that can be done. It is all healed up. The hair on that side is mostly destroyed but I might be able to tweak some of the hair follicles to grow again. The thick scar tissue I can reduce some but it will still be there." Tsunade reached up to touch his face.

"I am concerned that the whiskers came back. On the scarred side, they are not as noticeable but on the burnt side they really stand out. I'll get back to my research and see if I can come up with something."

Naruto nodded and headed for the house. Chakra training would have to wait for a bit. He had to go take care of a few things. He needed to get back into physical shape for a ninja before he could work on his control.

* * *

A brown haired woman looked at a secretary. "What do you mean he's gone?"

The woman at the desk just shuddered beneath the woman's gaze, "He said he needed to go take care of some business and would be back as soon as he could and that his sister was in charge until he got back."

The brown haired woman stormed out of the office, "I am going to kill him when he gets home. And no one is gonna bring his sorry butt back to life this time."

* * *

A masked ANBU bowed to Kakashi, "It was as you feared, Hokage-sama. We intercepted three separate messenger birds and a civilian heading toward Rice Country."

"Have you traced where the birds came from?" Kakashi asked with a frown.

"Two of them. Both came from minor families. The entirety of both are being confined while interrogators question each member. One of the families is known for being skilled at creating seals."

"As in exploding tags."

"Yes, Hokage-sama. The civilian claims to be a merchant but he had no goods and no funds on his person. He is being detained for now," the ANBU replied.

"Get the information we need out of them. Full treatment if necessary."

Kakashi sighed after the ANBU left. He hated this job.

* * *

Naruto walked into the smithy to find Neji hard at work. He was surprised at how Neji had taken to the art so fast. 'I'll have to teach him some more things soon. He has mastered making kunai already.'

Neji glanced up from his work before putting the unfinished kunai he was making into the coals to keep warm. He smiled at Naruto. Naruto was pleased at the difference in the man. His hair was pulled back into a low ponytail and, while sweaty, was in much better condition than it had been a week before. His brown eye showed a spark that had been missing a week prior as well.

"Welcome, Sensei," Neji said.

Naruto smiled in return. "Neji, how are things going here?"

"I think I have gotten some business. A number of clansmen have noticed me working in here and asked if I could repair or replace a number of their own broken blades. Kunai I can make just fine but several wanted shuriken. I have been experimenting but I have not had much success in that area. I am also lacking in materials as I have exhausted the little that was stored here."

Naruto nodded. Kunai and shuriken were the basic tools of the trade for ninja. Even taijutsu artists used them often and with a war going on they were consumed quickly.

"I'll see what I can do about materials. Let me show you what you need to do for basic shuriken."

Naruto took up the hammer and set to work.

* * *

Hinata saw Naruto disappear into the smithy and smiled for a moment before she focused on her own work. Her father had reminded her that he own Gentle Fist forms were getting rusty. She had spent so much time being a mother that she had allowed her skills to slip. She was still the third best in the entire clan at the style but younger ones were getting better and closing the gap. She could still not defeat her father and Hanabi was simply amazing at it. Her younger sister could likely even have defeated Neji at his best.

The clan had been doing so much better the past few years. Between her children and Hanabi's drive to end the Curse Seal, the rift in the clan from her youth was long gone. Father had even had begun an annual intra-clan tournament to find those within it who were more skilled for better teaching. The Gentle Fist was becoming a growing art once more as new ideas and attacks were added to it. Her own original defensive move had been incorporated into the style. Older scrolls were removed from archives and studied to see if anything from the past could be restored. Variants were tested and explored or discarded.

The war had also brought one more major change to the Hyuuga. For the first time, clan members who were less skilled physically were given the chance to explore other areas. The clan could now claim three fully certified medic ninja among their ranks and the first mainly ninjutsu fighter in their ranks was made jonin last year.

Hinata went through her forms once more with grace. She would not be left behind when Naruto returned to the field for this war. She would not lose her Naruto-kun again.

* * *

The clan and family leaders were meeting with Kakashi again and many frowned at the inclusion of one Uzumaki Naruto in the group.

The Uzumaki were not technically a part of the Hyuuga in the political sense but as an associated family many saw it as a threat so Uzumaki Hinata had no political power in her own right. Without Naruto in the picture, no one would accept that it was truly an independent line. Whether the family would remain a separate unit or be reabsorbed by the clan was still not a final decision. It was thought that until Kushina or Hizashi were ninja themselves that the family would be never be seen as its own entity and granted any sort of political power

The return of Naruto had changed that. As he was the recognized son of a Hokage, he could not be excluded without it being seen as an insult to the office and memory of the Fourth. The opponents of Kakashi were pushed further back by this as another vote of support in his favor had appeared.

The political dynamic of Konoha was a complicated one. The Hokage ruled Konoha and the ninja as the military leader. The clan and family leadership were more of a legislative body that advised and provided suggestions to the Hokage. They were also the body that elected a new Hokage should one be needed. If enough stood against the Hokage, he could be voted out by a two-thirds majority of no confidence.

Several wavering families right now held the keys to the office. Prior to Naruto's return, slightly more than half of the votes were against Kakashi. Enough remained undecided that Kakashi could not be removed but neither could he get the body in his favor.

Naruto's return had made several votes against Kakashi switch position from against to neutral. This gave Kakashi some breathing room but it also could lead to the civil war he was worried about. He would have the majority of troops but if the organized clans and families turned against him, it would be the end of Konoha.

Kakashi addressed the group, "After the last meeting, I placed ANBU on alert. They intercepted several messenger birds heading for the Sound with the contents of our meeting. We still have spies in our midst. The birds came from the Kara and Sato families. The adults are being questioned. The children under 12 have been removed from them and placed in foster care. No one will take any action against those innocents." Kakashi looked at the assembled leaders as they nodded in agreement.

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke looked at the kneeling minions before him. "What news from my spies?"

One raised his head slightly. "The closer spies indicate the source of the chakra wave was Konoha. It came from a bald and scarred man who has recently been seen around the Hyuuga. Several spies within Konoha did not report in. We fear they have been discovered."

"No matter. They know nothing. What news from the Mountain Country?"

"No report from there as yet, Master. We expect word within the next two days. That would be the fastest possible time for a response."

Sasuke nodded. He could not get the feeling of that chakra out of his mind. He had to be certain.

* * *

Naruto woke with the dawn. Hinata was curled up close to him and smiled as his motions woke her. He kissed her softly as both began their day.

The twins were not as easy to awaken. Kushina definitely took after Naruto and it took Naruto whispering 'Cinnamon Buns' in her ear to finally get her moving. Hizashi was just plain grumpy but got up without other complaint.

A light breakfast and the family parted ways. Naruto led Hizashi toward an isolated training field Neji and TenTen had told him about. The sounds of fighting came from the field.

The sight of two men beating on one another was not uncommon for Konoha but the utter silence of this pair was unnerving. Most pairs sparring would at least toss jibes back and forth but these men did not.

Hizashi just stared at the speed and violence the men in front of him displayed. Naruto just stood and looked at them with sad eyes at what he saw. He knew they had seen him and his son so he just stood and waited.

After another ten minutes, the pair of men stopped and looked over. Then Naruto motioned to Hizashi and they entered the field. The dark haired men just stood in silence as father and son approached.

"Guy, Lee, its good to be able to see you both again."

"It is good to see you as well, Naruto," Guy replied. Lee just nodded in agreement. Guy looked down, "It has been some time since I have seen you, young Hizashi. You look much like you grandfather and uncle."

Hizashi did not recall meeting this dark haired man but his large bushy eyebrows were frightening. He covered his fear the way Grandfather had taught him; by giving a classic Hyuuga glare.

Guy smiled a bit and commented sadly, "That glare makes me think of Neji."

Naruto smiled, "Yeah, Hinata says he channels the 'old Neji' at times. Guy, I need help getting back into shape. You are the best around at physical conditioning so I thought I would see you for advice."

Guy looked at Naruto with a critical eye. "Civilian level, heavy laborer?"

"Blacksmith."

"All upper body then. But a lot of endurance I bet. The style you had once; if you could even call it a style; would not work for you anymore. You need a new one. Something with heavy blows to take advantage of your upper body strength. How is your chakra?"

"Iffy at best. I still know what to do but my control is shot worse than it was as a new genin. I could not even get 30 feet up a tree yesterday. I figured work the physical side first so that I can at least survive long enough to get my control back."

"Good plan. Lee, do you have anything to add?" Guy asked the still silent Lee.

Lee just shook his head no and made a circle with one finger before running off.

Guy sighed as Lee left. "He rarely speaks anymore, Naruto. If I am lucky I can get a few words a day out of him. He has been like this ever since the war began as it is. We lost Neji and TenTen in battle. Sakura disappearing. Friends dying as they did."

"We just train and go on missions and take our turn in the lines. One month near the border, one month home. It is pretty much a stalemate out there now. Sound is content to just inflict casualties on us and wear us down. Uchiha wants us to break from within first rather than spend too many of his own forces to conquer us."

"Does he ever go see them; Neji and TenTen?"

"A few times, but not in years now. We heard what happened between them and it took everything I had to stop Lee from going to kill Neji."

"Why would he want to hurt Uncle Neji?" Hizashi spoke up.

Naruto looked at his son, "Because of when Uncle Neji hit TenTen a while back. Guy and Lee were on the same team as Neji and they both cared for her. It made both Guy and Lee angry."

"But Uncle Neji and TenTen are friends again. I keep seeing her go see him at that place, the forge."

"Oh really?" Naruto muttered.

Guy raised one bushy eyebrow, "I am not sure I like that gleam in your eyes, Naruto."

Naruto just grinned his classic foxy grin. "Leave a message for Lee. I need you to come with me for a little bit Guy."

* * *

"NO!" TenTen yelled "It's just evil and I won't do it."

Naruto begged, "Please, it would mean so much to him. You know how badly he is hurting. I already got Neji to agree. It took a big bribe but he is willing to do this if you will."

TenTen just growled and glared at Neji and Naruto.

"What would it take for you to do this, TenTen? Name your price," Naruto asked.

* * *

Lee stood in the training field attacking a post. Guy's note had been vague but he would not slack off on his training.

"Lee!" Guy called out. "Come over here. I have found us an additional pair of training partners for this morning."

Lee looked over with an emotionless face at the gesturing Guy and walked over.

Guy had a stern look on his face. "Lee, I have found that out training sessions are not as good as they could be for some time now. We are missing something very important. Do you know what that is?"

Lee just kept quiet as he looked confused.

Twin explosions of smoke burst behind Lee. He turned to see the clouds dissipating to see a man and a woman standing there. They were both dressed in green spandex unitards with orange leg warmers.

Before Lee could react both yelled in loud voices, "YOOOOOOOOUTH!"

"I WILL CREATE 100 KUNAI IN A ROW NON STOP!"

"AND IF YOU CANNOT DO THAT, I WILL MAKE 1000 BULLS EYES IN A ROW!"

"AND IF YOU CANNOT DO THAT, I WILL PERFORM KAITEN UNTIL I AM IN A HOLE 20 FEET DEEP!"

"NEJI!"

"TENTEN!"

"NEJI!"

"TENTEN!"

The pair hugged and suddenly Guy was behind them casting his sunset genjutsu.

Lee was stunned motionless. His normally wide eyes were even wider and slowly a single tear formed in the corner of one. His hoarse voice whispered, "youth."

Neji and TenTen both extended an arm to Lee.

"You know, there is room in that hug for one more, Lee," Naruto said from behind Lee. "Fires can get put out but I have found they always can be relit."

Lee slowly stepped closer to the hugging pair. When he was close enough, Neji and TenTen pulled him into a three way hug. Lee was crying as they held him.

Guy released his genjutsu and walked around the trio to get to Naruto. "What did you have to do to get them to go through with that?"

Naruto shuddered, "You don't want to know."

* * *

"Master, the report from the Mountain Country is here. The blacksmith's apprentice you asked about is gone."

Sasuke growled before waving the person away. He stalked off into his private area with a deep scowl on his face. 'So, somehow they found him. No matter. Without a Sharingan they cannot free his mind.'

He glanced at the heavy door set into one wall of his office. Chuckling, he took a grape from the bowl of fruit on his table and tossed it through the tiny hole set in the door.

"Don't worry my pet. They won't get you."

Sasuke turned to take care of other things.

The grape sat in the tiny square of light allowed into the room by the window. Slowly, a nearly skeletal hand reached to pluck the grape and drag it off into the darkness.

* * *

A red headed man walked up to the Western Gate of Konoha. The guards all took a defensive stance.

The man spoke, "Send for your Hokage. I am here to see both him and Uzumaki Naruto."

One of the younger guards spoke in a nervous voice, "Who may I tell him is here?"

The cold eyes glared at the young chunin. "Tell him it is Subaku no Gaara, the Godaime Kazekage. I wish to discuss business."

* * *

Next Chapter: Reforging Alliances

**

* * *

**

**End Notes: **Someone asked me what my inspiration for this story was. In truth, I had thought of doing a missing Naruto story ever since I read the first banished Naruto story. Some of those are entertaining but all contain the same glaring flaw. Konoha would never simply throw Naruto out as long as he contained the Kyuubi. So I needed a way to get rid of Naruto that did not involve being banished.

Once I had my premise, I took a plot idea from Highlander and many other sources to tell the missing parts of the story via flashbacks and storytelling. I used a story I never got around to posting as the backbone of the flashbacks.

Things will pick up as far as action soon enough.


	10. Reforging Alliances

**Reforging Alliances**

_A red headed man walked up to the Western Gate of Konoha. The guards all took a defensive stance._

_The man spoke, "Send for your Hokage. I am here to see both him and Uzumaki Naruto."_

_One of the younger guards spoke in a nervous voice, "Who may I tell him is here?"_

_The cold eyes glared at the young chunin. "Tell him it is Subaku no Gaara, the Godaime Kazekage. I wish to discuss business."_

* * *

Gaara stood waiting just outside of the gate. His arms were folded across his chest. His hair and long coat moved slightly under the gentle breeze. He had been waiting for nearly a half hour and his patience was wearing thin.

He glared at the chunin on guard duty. "There has been a message sent out, correct?"

The sixteen yr. old chunin nearly wet himself under the glare, "Yes Kazekage-sama. Would you care to come into the guardhouse to sit?"

"No, thank you. I have said I will never set foot into Konoha until after my friend Uzumaki Naruto is recovered."

The chunin nodded and backed off. One of the ANBU who had revealed himself chuckled lightly.

The minutes crept by until the silver haired leader of Konoha appeared. "Maa, maa, I had not heard you were coming here for a visit Gaara-dono or I would have had someone here to meet you."

"This trip was unplanned. Where is Naruto?" Gaara grumbled with little kindness in his voice.

"I have already sent for him. He was out training as he is badly out of shape," Kakashi said with a slight smile.

"You have 2 eyes again. I gather that your damaged Sharingan one is not salvageable any longer?"

Kakashi almost kept his shocked look from his face, "Yes, but I would hope you continue to keep that news it was ever that way to yourself. I can explain more later if needed."

Gaara just nodded and then stood silently.

More minutes crept by until the scarred form of Naruto appeared in the distance and running toward the gate. Gaara raised a non existent eyebrow at his friend's appearance. The scarred face and shaved head look Naruto had was unfamiliar to him but those eyes and smile remained.

"Gaara," Naruto said with a smile, "I got here as fast as I could. I was out training with Guy and Lee."

Gaara just nodded. "Are you well, Naruto? I felt your return three days ago."

Kakashi noticed a crowd of onlookers forming. "Perhaps this is not the place to talk. Would you care to come to the Tower, Gaara?"

"As long as Naruto is present, I accept," Gaara replied before stepping through the gate.

* * *

"So, the Uchiha and his minions are behind your disappearance then?" Gaara inquired.

"Yes," Naruto said in a cold voice, "He took me away from my life and my family."

"And what do you intend to do about that?"

Naruto looked down at the table he was sitting at with Kakashi and Gaara. When he looked back up, his eyes were no longer kind or gentle.

"When I get my hands on him, I am going to end him. No talking, no regrets, no remorse. He is beyond saving after all that he has done."

Gaara nodded before looking at Kakashi. "If Konoha policy matches this desire of Naruto's, then I will offer my aid and that of my village to help Naruto accomplish it."

Kakashi frowned under his mask "Not Konoha itself but Naruto specifically?"

Gaara turned his cold gaze back to Kakashi. "For now, yes. Konoha has a long way to go to get back the respect it once had. Naruto however is my personal friend and is considered a hero by Suna. If he wished to relocate there, his acceptance would be granted before the request could even be completed. This place did not realize the gem it had with Naruto. He personally earned the goodwill of many countries. Wind, Spring, Bear, Moon, Demon, Tea, Wave, Bird, and many others. His actions were all that kept Konoha as the supreme power in this part of the world. You know how things went after he was gone."

Kakashi just nodded as he knew what Gaara was referring to.

Gaara continued, "The Sound village controls the Rice Field country and is a threat to everyone. Uchiha will not stop once his fixation on Konoha is past. He has grown to like the taste of power and one country will not sate his desire. His ninja cause trouble for other countries. That will lead to new wars once his vendetta is gone. Without Naruto, there is no unifying force amid the smaller nations to get them to stand together. With him, they could raise an army to destroy Sound."

"Uchiha made one critical mistake in his plan. He did not kill Naruto when he had him at his mercy. His own vanity and desire to humble his rival by showing him the ruins of the very place that Naruto had sworn to protect before killing him will be his undoing."

Kakashi was shocked to hear the very assumptions his intelligence people had made coming from the mouth of the Kazekage.

"You … you knew that Sound had taken away Naruto?" Kakashi sputtered out.

"We have for over three years now. We captured a Sound jonin spying on Suna and his interrogation revealed much information on Uchiha's plans. As we were no longer allied with Konoha, we felt no need to share this information. Unfortunately, he was not knowledgeable on Naruto's location so we could do nothing in that regard except leave standing orders to keep an eye out for people fitting his description."

Gaara looked at Naruto now, "The place you tell me you were found is on the far side of several enemies for Suna. None of our ninja go to that area or we would have rescued you sooner my friend."

"Don't worry about that Gaara. Hinata and the Toads … OH CRAP!" Naruto exclaimed, "THE TOADS!"

"What's wrong?"

"It's been a few days since I was unsealed and I haven't summoned a toad yet! They must be furious at me. Kakashi, may I be excused?" Naruto asked.

"Maa, maa, want to go with him, Gaara? I have not seen a good beatdown by a toad on their summoner since before Jiraiya-sama died."

Gaara smirked slightly and nodded, "I might want to see this as well."

* * *

The trio had moved out into a nearby training field. Naruto cut his finger, smeared some blood across his palm and went through the hand signs before slamming his hand into the dirt.

A cloud of smoke billowed up in front of Naruto. It continued to grow until it filled the training field.

"Wow, how much chakra did you uses, Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

"Barely any, Kakashi. They must have pushed from their side," Naruto slowly replied.

"**Oi, gaki. It's about time you remembered us**," a voice boomed from inside the chakra smoke. The smoke dispersed quickly to reveal several large toads arrayed around the Tower sized Toad Boss, Gamabunta. An unscarred house sized version of him stood next to him who Naruto recognized as Gamakichi. Another house sized yellow colored toad with large cheeks and 2 huge battle axes on his back was Gamatatsu. A pair of very old child sized toads stood before the rest.

Naruto went down to one knee before the assembled toads. "Forgive my thoughtlessness, Gama-samas. I should have summoned you sooner to let you know I am myself once more."

The toad called Pa hopped up to Naruto, "No need to kneel, Naruto. We understand. We have missed you. We all came when we felt the tug of summoning."

Naruto smiled at Pa, "Thank you for watching out for Hinata and for looking for me."

"You were worth the effort," Pa smiled in his reply.

"**As worthy as you own father was in his time, Naruto**," Gamabunta said in his huge rumbling voice. **"When the time comes, your tadpoles are welcome to try to see if they can summon us."**

"Thank you Gamabunta-sama. I don't know how Hizashi would react to that offer but I think Kushina would be happy to."

"**Good, we will not keep you from things you need to do, Naruto. You are a fine subordinate. Do not forget to call upon us when the time comes to squash that Uchiha and his snakes. I'll have to polish up on my size reduction jutsu so we can have a few drinks together without causing too many problems,"** the Toad Boss boomed out.

The toads all vanished in bursts of smoke to return to their home.

Gaara looked at Naruto with a grin, "I was at the wedding but children?"

Naruto grinned and rubbed the back of his shaven head, "Yeah, apparently Hinata was pregnant when I got stolen away."

"I should like to meet them at some point," Gaara stated.

"How about coming over for dinner? I bet the kids would love to meet you. It might weird out Hinata for a bit but I don't think she will kill me over it."

* * *

A snake sidled up to the leader of the Sound. "There has been a disturbance. Someone has summoned toads."

Uchiha Sasuke growled, "So he is regaining his strength faster than I had hoped. If he can summon that means they managed to free his mind. This is a complication. Send word to Root in Konoha. Destroy him."

* * *

Naruto and Gaara entered into the Uzumaki compound and Gaara nodded his approval of the house. Once the pair were inside, they heard a girl's voice cry out, "DADDY!" as the blonde streak of Kushina ran into Naruto.

"Running hugs, gotta love 'em," he commented to Gaara.

Kushina pulled herself out of the hug and turned to Gaara before bowing, "Good Evening Sir. Welcome to the Uzumaki household. I am Uzumaki Kushina."

Gaara looked impressed before returning her bow, "I thank you for your kind welcome. I am Subaku no Gaara."

Kushina broke out into a big grin that reminded Gaara of Naruto's as the child looked to her father, "See Daddy? He knows how to do it."

Naruto shook his head slightly, "And she is never going to forget that either. Kushina sweetie, where is Mommy?"

"Right over here," Hinata called out from the door Kushina had come through earlier. "Welcome, Gaara-sama. I didn't know you were in town."

"Few would know as I came in secret. In fact I think I might be staying here for a time if my wife and sister are both mad at me when I get back to Suna."

Back in Suna, Matsuri and Temari both sneezed before going back to plotting Gaara's death.

* * *

Soon, the group sat down to dinner along with Hizashi and Tsunade. Once the meal was finished, Kushina and Hizashi were shooed off to bed while the four adults sat to talk.

"It is strange, Naruto. You are a lot taller than I remember you being," Gaara said.

"Yeah, a lot taller than some of my memories remember being too. I do know I grew a good six inches in the first 2 years of my life as Ken before stopping. I had not really put much thought into it."

Tsunade spoke up, "Likely it was something to do with the Kyuubi's chakra in your system stunting your growth. A lot of the new height is in your legs. In the past they had seemed stunted. Maybe without the demon's chakra preventing it, they grew to a normal length."

Naruto thought about it and nodded, "I did have a tendency to end up moving on all fours with I tree ran as a teenager. It seemed natural to move like that. I don't think I could do it like that any longer."

Tsunade smirked, "Most normal adults can't move on all fours easily, Naruto. The normal adult leg length prevents it."

"Kiba did comment on your height we found you Naruto. He also said your scent was different then. It almost caused us to leave without checking further," Hinata said quietly from her snuggle with her husband. "If I hadn't looked with my Byakugan and noticed your chakra coils network was advanced, we would have."

Naruto hugged Hinata tighter, "Then I should be glad for my beautiful wife and her amazing eyes."

Tsunade cleared her throat and looked back to Gaara, "So what is the plan for the near future? I know Kakashi will go for a renewed alliance but the problems we have with local dissent are still an issue. Sound still has spies in place within Konoha and they will be passing on information. I figure Uchiha knows about Naruto by now if you do."

"Wait a second, you got here at close to the minimum time for a trip from Suna to Konoha after Naruto's chakra got unsealed. How did you know so fast?" Tsunade asked.

Gaara point to Naruto, "His chakra. The wave he sent out after suppressing the Kyuubi resonated with mine. I am sensitive to demonic chakra. One perk of being a former jinchuuriki I guess. Not only was I able to sense the chakra of the demon, I was able to sense his mixed in with it. He added his own chakra to bolster Elder Chiyo's when she revived me. It left me sensitive to his energy. I can sense him at a long distance because of that resonance."

"I should keep you in mind in case this man of mine ever gets lost again, Gaara-sama," Hinata teased.

Naruto and Hinata found their own way to bed soon afterwards and left Gaara and Tsunade to talk between themselves.

* * *

The following morning Gaara accompanied Naruto to his morning workout. Guy and Lee were waiting at their usual spot when the pair arrived. Lee smiled slightly at seeing Naruto and bowed respectfully to Gaara. He had not gone back to his old spandex unitard but to help himself to not forget his 'renewed fires' he wore a spandex t-shirt under his jonin vest. Guy agreed and took up the same idea. Neither man shouted about youth but Lee was slowly starting to open back up from his pain.

The taijutsu pair soon had Naruto working out at a moderate pace with calisthenics and flexibility training to warm up with. This was followed by training forms for the new style Guy was teaching Naruto. His old knowledge helped as many common motions existed between styles but Naruto's muscle memory was gone after 8 years of non use. This led to sparring in the new style with Lee. The final stage of the day's training was done by Guy alone. He would give Naruto a rubdown to soothe his abused muscles while having Naruto guide chakra to the various muscle groups.

During this, Gaara sat off to one side and just soaked his feet in a stream. There was so little freely running water in Suna that he would take advantage of that for one morning and relax. He was glad for that as he had so little time to just be Gaara instead of 'Kazekage-sama'.

Once the workout was completed, Naruto led Gaara to the Tower for a meeting with Kakashi before Kakashi called together the elders and clans. There was some noticeable balking at the idea that the renewed alliance was with Naruto, not with Konoha specifically. Kakashi silenced that quickly telling them that aid was aid, not matter how it was received.

The only other item of business that needed attending was several reports of minor oni fleeing the Land of Fire. This brought several guarded looks toward Naruto. Oni fleeing was a relatively good thing because they were mischievous and caused problems that kept demon hunters in business. The elders were not sure if the oni leaving really was a good thing as professionals capable of dealing with demons would follow and leave as well. Some elders liked the idea of people able to subdue demons being near Konoha just in case.

Gaara prepared to head back to Suna after the meeting but left Naruto with one last invitation.

"If it should come down to a civil war in Konoha, Suna would be willing to take in your family and friends along with their families. I realized early on that the bulk of Kakashi's current support comes from clans and families associated with your 'Konoha 11'. Better to retreat than watch more die needlessly that way with the snake Uchiha waiting in the grass to devour the winner. I will also have my agents keeping a more careful eye out for your pink haired friend."

Naruto and Gaara shared a brief hug before Gaara left along with a small team of ANBU that Kakashi hand picked.

* * *

The two weeks following Gaara's visit were almost idyllic for Naruto. His mornings were spent with Guy and Lee on his physical training routine. Lunch with Hinata and the children. A few hours of instruction to Neji at the forge. The evenings before dinner was for meditation and chakra training with the leaf exercise. Dinner with family or friends and playing with the children after dinner. Nights with Hinata were better than anything he could have hoped for as Ken and the maturity both had gained over 8 years apart made their bond grow closer. Too bad it could not last.

Guy looked at Naruto with a stern gaze. "Naruto, today is our last day of training for at least a month to possibly two months. My team is scheduled to return to the border region to allow another to return to Konoha. However, they should be just as good for you. You know most of the team we are replacing. They go by the call sign, Team Kitsune."

Naruto was shocked by the name. Few in Konoha to this day cared much for foxes of any type. "Who are they?"

Guy paused before answering and looked at Lee who smiled slightly. "The team consists of Ebisu, Konohamaru, Moegi, and is led by your old teacher, Iruka."

"Wait, doesn't Ebisu outrank Iruka as a jonin?"

"As a jonin; yes. But he willingly had Iruka lead the squad because both realized that Iruka is the better field leader. One thing they do is they all wear fox masks and harass the Sound's supply lines and rear areas. That team has accounted for more nearly 10 percent of Sound casualties since fighting broke out. They bring back the sealed heads of any Konoha traitors fighting for Sound as well."

Naruto nodded at that. Bounties were offered for any Konoha ninja that had turned traitor.

"What about Moegi? I thought Kakashi was not allowing women up at fighting against the Sound?"

"The four of them wear masks and go by code names, Fire Kitsune, Earth Kitsune, Water Kitsune and Wind Kitsune (Hi no Kitsune, Tsuchi no Kitsune, Mizu no Kitsune, Kaze no Kitsune). No one in Konoha knows which is which so her secret is safe. Clothing helps disguise who is who as well."

Naruto nodded and stood to stretch as Guy finished his rubdown. His muscles were coming back nicely. Manipulating chakra during the rubdowns was speeding things along by helping the muscles to recover faster after a workout

"Do you mind if I walk with you as you go home?" Guy asked. "I need to pick up a few things I ordered from Neji. It seems he has become quite the smith in the past few weeks. His kunai and shuriken are of good quality and balance."

Naruto shuddered without realizing it. A part of his price for getting TenTen into the spandex outfit had been him being her target for an afternoon. He was required to stand there while she threw all manner of things sharp and pointy in his direction. Granted she was aiming only inches from his body but he knew if he flinched, he would have gotten cut. He had chosen that from the other option she offered him; pulling her once around Konoha in a rickshaw while wearing an orange Speedo thong. Hinata later reminded him he made the right choice.

The act of being a human target for an afternoon had also given Naruto an idea on how to solve his metal supply problem. He hired several teams of Academy students to wander the training fields for an afternoon picking up all the lost and broken weaponry there. The students got to keep all the items that were usable. Even so, Neji had enough broken kunai and shuriken to melt down and make new weapons from for months. Naruto had shown his skill and repaired several other more difficult weapons the students had discovered. TenTen had begun to carry Neji's weapons in her shop and demand for them was rising. Hiashi was pleased with the cash flow and with a smile pronounced that running the forge would be Neji's only clan duty.

Naruto and Guy walked through the streets of Konoha side by side. It seems Naruto's schedule had become well known by his daily walk across town. Civilians greeted the pair as they moved while a rare few would cross the street until the pair had passed. Naruto was about to turn a corner when Guy stopped him.

"Naruto, there is something wrong here," the older man said. "There are no birds chirping anymore."

Naruto was about to respond when a bomb went off just around the corner.

* * *

Next Chapter: Blows and Counterblows

**

* * *

**

Review Notes:

The owner of the hand will be seen in time.

Naruto will remain mostly scarred and shaved bald for the near future. He is 'healed' as far as his body is concerned and as stated in the story the only thing that will change it is some serious treatment.

To QnP, as I said in the private reply, the kids were not harmed for 2 reasons. One - There was no trace of demon in them and Two – Hiashi would destroy to the last distant family member of anyone who touched his grandchildren. To your chapter 8 question, No relationship between Shikamaru and Temari. He found someone slightly more average and they will appear soon.

InARealPickle, I had written the chapters separately over the month without updates and did final edits to them the weekend prior to posting. I am not a writing machine but I can get a couple thousand words on a good day. And trash a couple thousand on a crappy day. That is how writing goes.


	11. Blows and Counterblows

Naruto will be keeping his scarred look within the context of the story for some time. I know people want him back to 'normal' but that is the way he is in this story. If you prefer to picture him as looking normal, that is up to you.

**Blows and Counterblows**

_Naruto and Guy walked through the streets of Konoha side by side. It seems Naruto's schedule had become well known by his daily walk across town. Civilians greeted the pair as they moved while a rare few would cross the street until the pair had passed. Naruto was about to turn a corner when Guy stopped him._

"_Naruto, there is something wrong here," the older man said. "There are no birds chirping anymore."_

_Naruto was about to respond when a bomb went off just around the corner._

* * *

Naruto's vision swam as he opened his eyes once more. Dust filled the air as debris was still falling from the sky. 'Always with the explosions, damn teme.' Things went dark after that thought.

Guy was still on his feet as he had flooded his body with chakra moments before the explosion. This allowed him to withstand the shockwave. Both men were fortunate the blast had occurred around the corner. The masonry of the wall next to them had kept most of the blast away from them. If not for his recent combat experience, he would not have noticed the signs of trouble so easily and stopped. Guy realized he would not have survived that bomb. Likely Naruto would not have either.

Naruto was still out when ANBU arrived. They quickly took him to the emergency room. The medics found that other than shock from the blast, he was fine. They advised him to take it easy for a day and if he developed any problems to come back. The ANBU left a message that he was to report to the Hokage's office as soon as he was released.

Hinata came in with the children just as the medics were heading for the door. She wrapped her husband in a tight hug as Kushina fretted and Hizashi actually looked worried. Naruto was confused that she had gotten there so fast.

Hinata saw his confusion and spoke, "Every blast that someone sets off gets the attention of the whole village. The first thing I do is check that location for family and friends with my Byakugan. I saw you down so I grabbed the children and hurried over."

Naruto nodded. He looked at Kushina and Hizashi and motioned them closer. This was the first time he had ever seen Kushina without a smile on her cute face. Hinata loosened her grip some and let the children into the family hug. They just sat like that for nearly a minute before someone came in and lightly coughed to get their attention. Tsunade stood in the doorway with a smile on her face.

"I hate to ruin such a picture perfect family moment but I need to examine the gaki," she said with a chuckle.

"My father is not a gaki, Aunt Tsunade," said Hizashi with a mild tone in his voice.

Tsunade's smile got broader at the boy's defense of his father. It seems that Naruto was winning over his son. "Either way," she continued, "I need to test out a treatment I have been working on for him." She looked at Naruto. "I have been trying to get you to come by here but you never seem to over do things like you had when you were younger."

Naruto chuckle, "Guy has not been letting me overwork myself. He will push me right up to the edge sometimes but never over. Each day that edge is a little further along."

"Anyhow, I got one jutsu finished that I wanted to try to work on those burns of yours. And, since I am the attending physician, you can't leave or be released until after I am done. It would only take a few minutes and at least lessen the scar tissue some."

"Any luck on finding something that can fix the hair on the burnt side?" Naruto asked with a bit of hope.

Tsunade shook her head, "Nope. Only one person has ever figured out a way to regenerate dead cells and that is Kabuto over in Sound. If he is even still alive at this point. I had thought …" Tsunade stopped and looked at the children. "I had hoped Furball might be able to help you but since your body is healed and not trying to heal any further, nothing else is going to happen on that front."

"Who's Furball," a muffled Kushina asked from still holding her father in a tight hug.

Hinata bit her lip as she glanced at Naruto. The look on her face let Naruto know she had never told the children about the Kyuubi. He thought quickly, "Um, Furball is someone Daddy knows. I have known him my whole life but I am not really friends with him. He is why some people in Konoha don't like Daddy much."

"Oh, Okay," Kushina said having never moved.

Hizashi just raised one eyebrow but kept silent. He knew that his father was hiding something there but that he had not exactly lied. Perhaps Grandfather might know who this 'Furball' is.

The family hug finished breaking up as Tsunade had Naruto lay on the exam table. She made several hand passes over Naruto's face with her Mystic Palm technique before the green chakra faded. She then made a series of hand signs and muttered under her breath before her hands glowed again. She began to rub the hand over the thick scar tissue on the right side of Naruto's face. Bits of skin flaked off after her hand passed.

Minutes later, she was finished and motioned Naruto to sit up. His face was still scarred on the left side and you could still see burn scars on the right but those were noticeably reduced. "How does that feel, Naruto?" she asked him.

"Weird. I can feel the air on part of it. What did you do?"

"Well, I will skip the medical terms and give you a summary. I forced chakra into the scar tissue to separate off the dead cells near the surface from the healthy ones below it. Then I stretched and reshaped the skin around a few of the deeper burns so you would not start bleeding. I could only work with what was there, not make things re-grow as I had done once with Lee years ago. You will never be pretty but at least that side of your face is not hindered so much. I don't expect the heavy stuff to come back but I will look over it again in a few weeks. That ANBU outside the room is getting antsy so you had better report to Kakashi."

Hinata reached over and rubbed the area Tsunade had worked on and smiled. "It's soft again there."

Naruto smiled at his wife and stood up from the exam table.

"Well, I had better go see what he wants. If an ANBU is stuck waiting, it is likely important."

Kushina perked up, "Mommy, can I stay with Aunt Tsunade today? I won't get in her way. Pleeeease?" Kushina ended her please with a cute pout.

Hinata just raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Kiddo, I taught you that. It doesn't work on me. You need to ask Aunt Tsunade first."

Tsunade smiled softly, "I would not mind. She is good company and she makes me feel younger than I am. Besides, I never need to show her something twice. Hinata, we might have to discuss this little girl's future soon. It is almost time for the children to decide if they enter the Academy or not."

Hinata nodded as she looked at her little girl.

Naruto hugged and kissed his wife and daughter then patted his son on the shoulder, "Come on Hizashi, they are about to go into 'girl talk'. You can come see the Hokage with me."

Hizashi only paused for a moment before thoughts of 'girl talk' and cooties came to mind and he hurried out with his father.

* * *

Kakashi had a grim look on his face when Naruto entered his office. The Hokage motioned to an ANBU on guard who departed quickly. "Naruto, this is important and no for children's ears. Do you really want Hizashi to hear these things?"

Naruto looked down at his son, "Well, he has been getting trained by his grandfather for a few years now and is second in line to lead the Hyuuga. He told me in the past that he will beat me up if I hurt Hinata. If it is not secret information, he can hear it." Naruto looked at Hizashi, "Son, this is adult stuff Hokage-sama is about to discuss. If you want to be a part of it, then you can stay. Otherwise you need to wait outside with the secretary."

Hizashi replied without waiting, "I'll stay Father."

Naruto smiled when he heard 'Father'. It was still overly polite to his ears but it was the closest to 'Dad' he had gotten out of Hizashi so far.

Kakashi began, "I figured since you are still in line as a candidate for Hokage that you need to get back into the decision making side of running things around here. I am assuming you still desire the post."

Naruto looked a little abashed, "Honestly, the thought of it had not even come to me since my return. I had desired it and overall I have not changed my mind about it. I just had other things to worry about first."

Kakashi nodded and started, "As you know, I have had ANBU keeping an eye on you since you returned."

Naruto nodded that he knew about that.

"Well, I have also had several in lookout positions along the route you travel each day. They would be on the lookout for trouble. The one who watches the street where the bomb went off said that no one had stopped near the wall where the explosive was. The seal simply appeared there and exploded."

Naruto frowned. "Seals just don't appear. Someone has to draw them and place them."

Kakashi nodded in reply, "That is true. I had a disturbing thought on that. Seals are drawn with ink then infused with chakra to become explosives. There was at least one ink user in Root in the past; Sai."

Naruto sat in silence thinking on that. For Sai to learn ink jutsu means someone from Root had to teach him ink jutsu. The other thought was that Sai had not been as free from Root as they had hoped and remained a part of it working against Konoha. A knock on the door interrupted his train of thought.

"You sent for me, Hokage-sama?" a woman's voice said as she entered.

"Ah, Shiho. Naruto, I am not sure if you were introduced. You missed the wedding but Uzumaki Naruto, meet Nara Shiho. She is the assistant director of the science department of ANBU."

"Ah, so you finally got lazy butt to propose huh?" Naruto asked.

Shiho smiled slyly behind her thick glasses. "Yes. It only took giving his mother a nudge to turn up the pressure and he really wanted to get out of her house. Since he had no clue how to function alone he came to me. Of course I would have taken him but it only took a few hesitations at the right time while 'deciding' that he proposed. We already have the daughter, now in another seven months we find if he gets the son," Shiho beamed.

Naruto smiled, "Congratulations on both."

Kakashi spoke up now, "On to business."

Shiho nodded and passed a folder to Kakashi, "The residue of the seal ink shows it is similar to the type of ink the Root member Sai used. It was made locally as certain ingredients are native to the region. Operatives trying to track the path the ink traveled had little success. The drops of ink that were left behind are too small for even our Hyuuga operative to follow. He can see larger ones and can tell there are others but not enough to pin point the place it came up from the catacombs under Konoha."

"Which operative?" Hizashi spoke up from where he had sat silently until now.

Shiho looked and finally noticed the boy had been in the room. "Um…" She looked to Kakashi who nodded permission. "Hyuuga Saito."

Hizashi nodded, "He has good eyes. However, mine are slightly better. Father, could I try to spot these traces they are looking for?"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow as all eyes fell on Naruto.

"You think you can do it, son?" Naruto asked.

"Yes Father. I would need Saito to show me the place to start looking and what exactly to look for but I think I can. I want to help you, Father. I … I just got you back and I am not sure I want to lose you."

Naruto smiled down on his son and patted his shoulder. "Nothing is certain in life but I have no intention of leaving it any time soon."

The boy smiled slightly before resuming his impassive Hyuuga look.

Kakashi nodded, "I want the boy kept safe. Bring him to the bomb site inside of a covered wagon of some kind with your operative to aid him. I do not want word of his involvement to spread past those who must know. It might make him a target otherwise."

* * *

Shortly, Naruto, Hizashi and Saito were sitting in a wagon that was pulled up to the bombing site. Hizashi and Saito both sat in meditative poses as they focused their chakra into their eyes and activated their bloodline.

Saito spoke first, directing Hizashi to the points he had spotted on the ground below where the bomb had been. The boy replied that he could see those points and inquired at several smaller points but Saito told him those were from after the explosion. The variations in the residual chakra were different. Hizashi once again expressed his understanding.

The pair spoke back and forth direction and distance to other points both could see as Hizashi learned what he needed to look for. Once he had a good idea, he focused harder and let more chakra flow into his eyes. Fainter traces showed up more clearly as he began to speak to Saito what he could see. Saito was amazed at the traces Hizashi's eyes were detecting. He could just barely make out something against the background on each point Hizashi mentioned. The residue was hard even for the boy to track but he got a break when he finally found the exit point.

"There," he said, "On the lichens about 10 meters away. There is a drop of ink there with another about one meter down the hole on the underside of a brick.

Saito could not see the drop on the lichen until he focused his concentration on it and forced himself to strain before catching a subtle variance in the drop of ink and the natural chakra of the lichens.

Finally he relaxed so he would not overstrain his eyes, "Yes, I see it. I passed over it several times but did not see it due to the natural chakra of the plant growth. Thank you Hizashi. I should be able to follow it from there."

Hizashi relaxed and allowed his Byakugan to deactivate and slumped down in exhaustion. He had never pushed himself that hard before but the proud smile on his father's face made it worth it.

* * *

The father and son soon found themselves in Kakashi's office again the following day. The Hokage was frowning when the pair sat down. "I am pleased at the help Hizashi gave us in finding what he did. The result of following the trail is something I do not believe he should hear. Hizashi, please go wait outside with my secretary."

The dark haired boy looked at his father first but obeyed Kakashi.

Kakashi looked right at Naruto. "The ANBU team followed the ink traces back through a series of previously unknown tunnels. Several citizens were apprehended and taken to Ibiki. I have squads mapping out the rest of the tunnels now but what was already found is disturbing. They… they found Sai."

"So he was behind the bombings?"

"Yes and no. As I said they found him. But what was done to him was monstrous. ANBU was forced to euthanize him."

* * *

"It is called a lobotomy," Tsunade said. "Butchery would be more accurate. They sliced into his brain and destroyed his personality. What was left of his mind was simple and would follow directions. Information Ibiki already obtained tells us that someone would draw out the explosive seal and bring it to Sai who would then be told to use his ink jutsu to place it somewhere in Konoha."

Kakashi frowned, "Since we had never seen the seals being planted before this, we had always assumed someone placed explosive notes. No one had even considered something like this. How long was he like this, Tsunade?"

"Judging by the age of the scar tissue, I would have to guess from before Root defected. The last public sighting of Sai was about six months before that. That would put this horror in Danzo's hands."

Naruto could not keep himself from shuddering, "What kind of condition was he in otherwise?"

Tsunade sighed, "All things considered, he care was quite good. The people kept him fed and cared for his needs physically. He was clean and his cell was comfortable; for a cell anyhow."

Kakashi looked down. "That at least earns them a painless death. I hope this stops the bombings. Even so, the price is very high."

* * *

"Master, reports from Konoha indicate that Uzumaki lives and the bomb cell has been found."

"How many people were in that cell?" Sasuke asked.

"Seven counting the bomber."

Sasuke nodded, "Increase attacks on Konoha's forces until there are twice that dead, then return to normal operations. Send back the heads as normal but with notes in the mouth saying these deaths are to be blamed on Uzumaki returning."

The minion left to carry out his orders.

'That only leaves us with one active cell still reporting. The last report had the other two message cells taken in by ANBU. I may be forced to step up my plans. I need to draw Naruto out of Konoha.'

Sasuke called in a team and sent them off on a mission.

* * *

Naruto spent his training time for the following week in the training area attached to the Hyuuga compound once Guy and Lee had left for their deployment. He spent some time each day with each of his children and Hinata building their relationships. Kakashi announced the capture of the bomber cell after the most recent bombing and people were happy with it until the notes arrived with deaths of the Konoha ninja.

Politically, Kakashi took a hit over the deaths but most of the ninja clans and families saw through Uchiha's ploy. The few that didn't were already against Kakashi so in the long run their opinion did not hurt him. More minor countries were sending emissaries once news of Naruto's return got out. Small amounts of dialogue passed for the first time in years from Konoha to many of them. Wave and Spring both had long considered Naruto a national hero. The news that the Sound had been the reason for his disappearance had them renew their alliances with Konoha and throw the Uchiha's minions from their countries.

The emissary from the Demon country became the first problem. He demanded a personal audience with Naruto.

"I have a personal letter from Priestess Shion for Uzumaki Naruto and I have been charged to deliver it to his hand. I may not give it over to any other. Once that has been done, I may go about any negotiations with Konoha," he insisted.

After a brief examination of the sealed letter for chakra, he was allowed to present it to Naruto.

While the scarred man was surprised to get the letter, the contents were even more of one. It was a request and invitation from Shion to have Naruto visit the Demon Country and his daughter, Mikomi. Shion had kept her word that she would keep silent about her daughter's paternity but the 10 yr. old had asked to meet her father when word came that he was alive. Naruto only sat in shock while Hinata had taken the letter from his hand and read it for herself. The mention of a daughter got Hinata quite upset as she had not been informed of such a possibility in the past. This led to a long explanation of Naruto's mission to the Demon Country when he was 15. Luckily, Hinata was more understanding as his story unfolded since it occured before their relationship. She eventually expressed the intention in taking the entire family to Demon Country or Naruto was not going anywhere. If Naruto had another child somewhere, her children would meet their half sibling. She would also prevent any further poaching on 'her man'.

* * *

Expectations were high in Konoha as the latest cycle of forces were returning from the border regions. Dozens of ninja had been making their way home over a few days time. Four masked ninja stopped just out of sight of the village gates and removed their masks. Each mask had the appearance of a different color Kitsune. The quartet then put the masks away before walking the last remaining distance to check in at the gate. The leader checked them in at the gate while the tallest one put on a pair of sunglasses. The other two, a strawberry blonde woman and a spikey haired man an inch shorter than her, kept quiet as the group moved toward the hospital for their official checkup.

The checkup went smoothly and soon the tallest man nodded to the rest before turning down another street. "See you in a few days for training, Ebisu," called out the leader.

"Yeah, I look forward to it, Iruka," replied Ebisu in a sarcastic voice. "I hope you Konohamaru and Moegi heard right. I need to get home to the wife."

The remaining three headed for the clan districts to find out if the rumor they had heard was true.

Naruto was in the smithy showing Neji and TenTen something when a Hyuuga came up to the door and leaned in.

"Pardon my intrusion. There is someone at the gates of the Uzumaki compound looking for you Naruto. Hinata-sama was in the middle of a training session and asked if I could get you to see to them."

Naruto smiled. He had gotten a few of the members of the Branch family of the Hyuuga to stop calling him 'sama' but he knew he would never break them of calling Hinata that.

"I'll be right there, Akashatsu. Thank you."

Naruto made his way to the gate and opened it to see three older but familiar faces. A smile appeared on his face when all three looked shocked before yelling out greeting and trying to hug the man at once.

"Iruka, Konohamaru, Moegi, its good to see all of you again," Naruto said softly as he was hugged and having his back pounded in friendly greeting. "Come in, come in," he said as he led them into the house. "I am still getting used to the place but all of you are welcome here at any time."

Iruka smiled sadly at how Naruto looked but he could see the younger man was not letting it bother him. "How are things going for you Naruto?" he asked.

Naruto smiled and turned back. "Better than I had hoped a few months ago. Hinata and her team found me up in the mountains in an isolated valley that Sasuke had put me for storage. Intelligence feels he was saving me for something big after he destroyed Konoha. Finding I had a family waiting for me was the biggest shock of all. But that is a very good thing to be shocked with I think. Hinata tells me that you and Anko finally got together and have a couple of boys."

Iruka smiled and blushed, "Yeah, she kind of pulled me in. It might have been a bit sudden but I never regretted it."

_Anko looked down at her long time friend and soon to be husband. "Iruka-kun, you have been stringing me along since we were teens. Time to step up and be a man." The snake holding him seemed to chuckle as Iruka proposed._

Naruto laughed as Iruka told him that married life had made Anko really tone down her act. She was a full jonin and had taken over kunoichi training at the Academy. Since the kunoichi had most of the money making missions now, they needed to be an effective force on their own and Anko insured they would be ready. The Umino boys were already spending their days at the Academy with their mother learning to be ninja.

Konohamaru and Moegi were seeing each other but nothing formal beyond engagement had come out of it yet. The loss of Udon had hit both hard and both wanted revenge before moving on with family. They had been waiting for the war with Sound to finish off but things were not looking good in that department. Team Kitsune took up most of their time both on and off mission so other planning was not being made.

"What about you, Naruto?" Iruka asked. "Any plans on your future."

"Well, I have been training with Guy and Lee until they left for the war zone. I am back up to about genin level in both abilities and chakra control. I am spending my evening meditation time on the ceilings now so that helps. Um, my guest is remaining quiet since my chakra was unsealed but I do not think he is done trying to get out yet. I think he is biding his time. He feels different lately but I am not going in there to speak to him just yet. Overall, in about another month I should be ready to start being a ninja again."

Moegi had been quiet up until this point, "Um, Naruto. Could I ask a favor?"

Naruto looked over to the woman as she took the cue to keep going.

"I was hoping for a chance like this to come along." She turned to Konohamaru and knelt on the ground in front of where the man was sitting. "Konohamaru, I know you asked me years ago to marry you but I asked if we could wait for the wedding until the time was right. I think this is a sign that the time IS right. I will marry you at any time if you still wish for me to."

Konohamaru smiled and lifted Moegi to her feet. "I hoped the day would come as well. Having big bro back is a good sign to me too. But just to hear it again, Moegi will you marry me?"

Moegi smiled and hugged Konohamaru tightly, "Yes, I will."

* * *

Two days later, the wedding of the 'Honorable Grandson' and his bride was going off with only a close circle of friends in attendance. The guest list included the Hokage presiding, the other grandson of the Third and his mother Kurenai, the Uzumaki, Naruto, Hinata and their children, Iruka and Anko, Ebisu with his wife, and Udon's parents. The announcement would be made to the village as a whole later that week after the newlyweds had some private time.

After the small party for the couple, Konohamaru and Moegi asked to see Naruto in private with Kakashi, Iruka and Ebisu. The group met in Kakashi's office.

Moegi started things off, "As you all know, Hokage-sama frowns on putting women in the lines against Sound. The fact that I keep my identity secret is the only reason he has allowed this to continue. I requested that since I am now married and wish to start a family that I be placed on reserve status. This will leave the Team short as I am Earth Kitsune. But I asked Hokage-sama to allow Naruto to take my place on the Team as it was formed to honor his memory. If everyone agrees, then it will be so."

Ebisu stroked his chin slowly as Iruka nodded his agreement. Konohamaru just hugged his wife as he had already agreed to her plan. Kakashi looked over at Naruto to see what he thought of it.

Naruto bowed with respect to Moegi and Konohamaru, "I would be honored to do it if you all want me."

Ebisu just kept rubbing his chin but finally spoke, "I require a condition. Iruka is Water Kitsune as that suits him best. The same with Konohamaru being Fire Kitsune. Earth fit Moegi best so I took Air as that is what remained. However, Air suits Naruto better than it would me as he is one of the handful of wind chakra users in Konoha. I will give him Air and take Earth for myself. Given that we do not reveal which mask is which it will remain a mystery for a time that a switch has taken place."

Naruto looked at Ebisu and thought only that he had only thought of Ebisu as a closet pervert. That title did not do justice to the caring man who was Konohamaru's tutor then jonin sensei for years. Technically, Ebisu outranked everyone in the room but Kakashi but the man knew he was not better as a ninja. The students had outdone the teacher and he knew it.

All parties agreed and the modified Team Kitsune was formed.

* * *

The gate guards saw a snake approaching bearing a burden. The creature dispelled itself 50 yards from the gate and its bundle dropped to the ground. One guard frowned and spoke in low tones, "Damned Uchiha and his pets. Torturing us all like this with the heads of our losses."

The package was quickly checked over for traps of bombs before being opened. No guard recognized the heads within but a note addresses to 'The Dobe' indicated that the heads could be identified by him.

Naruto and Hinata answered the call to the Hokage Tower quickly. Neither knew why until Kakashi led them to the ANBU level.

Kakashi spoke quietly, "No one could identify these heads, Naruto. The note attached said that you should be told." The box was opened and Naruto just stared in shock before falling to his knees and lowering his head.

Hinata barely kept herself from throwing up. She knew these poor victims. "They are Kama-san and his young apprentice. They are the people that cared for Naruto when he was lost to us."

Naruto spoke in a voice deepened by tears, "They were a part of my family. They were precious to me. Now that bastard has taken them away." Naruto pulled out a kunai and sliced open his hand. "I swear by heaven, earth and hell that I shall make Uchiha Sasuke pay for his crimes." He ran through hand seals and placed the hand to the floor. A small toad appeared out of the smoke.

"Gamadenrei, carry this message to the Sound village and Sasuke. Tell him he has sown the wind, and now he will reap the whirlwind."

* * *

Next Chapter: Wrath of the Kitsune

* * *

End Notes: Another one bites the dust. Sai is another victim of the war as is the gruff Kama and the lazy unnamed apprentice. The action begins in the next chapter.

I intentionally had the Sai part happen off screen for a reason. I had thought about putting it within the story but I decided that it did not need to be there and would hurt the flow I was going for. The focus remains with the primary characters where it should be. I have noticed all 3 of my stories have taken a darker turn of late but that is more due to the timing involved than anything else.

The last line was actually a Bible quote from the Book of Hosea chapter 8 verse 7 "For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind." Basically it means that for every action there is a consequence.


	12. Wrath of the Kitsune

**Wrath of the Kitsune**

_Kakashi spoke quietly, "No one could identify these heads, Naruto. The note attached said that you should be told." The box was opened and Naruto just stared in shock before falling to his knees and lowering his head._

_Hinata barely kept herself from throwing up. She knew these poor victims. "They are Kama-san and his young apprentice. They are the people that cared for Naruto when he was lost to us."_

_Naruto spoke in a deepened voice, "They were a part of my family. They were precious to me. Now that bastard has taken them away." Naruto pulled out a kunai and sliced open his hand. "I swear by heaven, earth and hell that I shall make Uchiha Sasuke pay for his crimes." He ran through hand seals and placed the hand to the floor. A small toad appeared out of the smoke._

"_Gamadenrei, carry this message to the Sound village and Sasuke. Tell him he has sown the wind, and now he will reap the whirlwind."_

* * *

Naruto had been comfortable to train at the limits Guy had set for him until this morning. Seeing the heads of Kama and 'little brother'; the other apprentice to Kama; had sent him out in a rage. He went out to his training area and made a well remembered hand sign. "Taiju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Multi Shadow Clone Technique)," he whispered as he gathered a huge amount of his available chakra. Chakra smoke exploded outward. Hundreds of shadow clones appeared in ordered ranks as the smoke faded away.

With a stern face, he looked out as the mass of clones. Each face he saw mirrored his own in anger and rage. He pointed his arms at various groups. "Tree climbing, Waterwalking, Leaf cutting, Hand seals. Go." The clones moved off with a purpose to their assigned tasks as Naruto began doing his daily physical training.

Hinata stood in silence as her husband began doing punches on the training dummy. She could see the pain he was trying so hard to suppress. She just remained there as the hours passed. She noticed clones slowly dispersing themselves along the edge of the clearing and his motions became more ragged. But Naruto never stopped even as he could barely lift his arms.

As darkness settled, Naruto finally fell to his knees and voiced a primal shout of loss to the heavens, backed by enough chakra to have it echo across Konoha. Hinata moved over to him. She knelt behind her husband and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. He leaned his head forward as he let go of his pain and wept.

Long minutes passed before Naruto's tears stopped. He spoke in a firm voice as he lifted his head to look to the sky, "Jiraiya said he believed that one day, the people of the world could live at peace with one another. That if we understood each other, we could manage it. But there was no reason for what Sasuke did except to make me suffer. Kama never did anything except care for me. I can't understand why he would want to order it. My mind will not bend that far to excuse it. I said I would end him but now I see I have to end his works as well. Sound is a disease on the face of the world if they can so callously kill innocents just to make a point. No more. I hope Jiraiya can understand what I need to do and forgive me for betraying his dream of peace."

"But I see now that peace has a price too. This is not about revenge, Hinata. It is about standing up for what is good, right and just and doing what needs to be done. No more waiting in fear for another attack. No more just keeping them away and hoping something will happen. We need to stop him somehow. But I am not strong enough."

Hinata leaned her head against her husbands back. "Then I will add my strength to yours, beloved."

Motion at the edges of the clearing brought them to alert. Tsunade stood there with the children. Behind them Kakashi, Neji and TenTen, Konohamaru and Moegi, Iruka, Ebisu, Shikamaru, Hiashi, Hanabi and several more Hyuuga. Many others she did not know stood as well but rank upon rank of ninja had come to the sound of the cry. Too many recognized the pain he had let out and few could ignore it. They also recognized something stirring within them; something that had slept since Naruto had first disappeared.

For five long years, the ninja of Konoha had been living in shock. Shock at the losses the betrayal by Root had caused. Shock that Tsunade had been cut down and crippled and left in the dust by someone who had said he would destroy them while offering the opportunity to betray everything they believed just to live longer. Shock from the ambushes and deaths at the start of the current war. Shock from the bombings and terror attacks. Shock from fighting a losing war they should have been winning against a smaller power.

They lost the focus and will that had made Konoha great. They had spent the last five years reacting to what was done to them instead of acting to end the events. But now, they heard Naruto saying the things that needed to be said. Opening their eyes to the reality they did not want to see. Giving voice to the things that had been nagging silently at the edges of their minds. He still had the Will of Fire burning within him and it allowed him to see clearly.

His return had already changed people. He had left some of his fire with Hinata and she had helped change the Hyuuga but it was not enough. Hinata and the children had saved the life of Tsunade. Everyone knew that Tsunade would have let herself shrivel and die if the Uzumaki children had not been alive to give her a reason to keep going. Now talk of Neji coming out of his self hatred had spread throughout the ranks. TenTen no longer hid inside of her house. Lee and Guy burned once more with their flames of youth but thankfully did not shout it to the entire village. Spies had been flushed out of hiding and the bomber caught. Allies were coming back to Konoha. Hope was returning. But that still was not enough.

Now his words touched the spark still holding on in each of them. That small spark being the only reason they still held on and fought against the Sound. Tsunade had not been far off when she called Naruto 'the Soul of the Village'. Now that strange power he had to make people better fanned those sparks into flames once more.

"I will add my strength as well, Naruto," Tsunade finally spoke in the silence.

"As will I," said Neji.

"And I," said TenTen with a smile.

More voices chimed in that they would as well. Naruto looked back at Hinata in shock at what was happening. They stood up as Kakashi lifted his hand up for silence and stepped closer. "It seems you are forgetting one small detail Naruto. You're still not yet a ninja again. I was going to give this to you later but now seems a more appropriate time."

Kakashi pulled out an orange cloth with a battered metal plate on it. "The cloth is new but the symbol is the one your father had on when he faced the Kyuubi. I think he would agree with me giving it to you."

"Uzumaki Naruto, son of Namikaze Minato. I hereby restore to you your status as ninja of Konohakagure no Sato." Kakashi handed the headband over to Naruto.

Naruto took the headband almost reverently. His father's headband was now his. He lifted it up to his forehead and tied the cloth behind his head. He then bowed to Kakashi, "Thank you, Hokage-sama."

From somewhere back in the crowd someone yelled, "All right, Naruto! Way to go!"

With that signal, the assembled ninja all began to cheer. A chant of "Naruto!" began as the cheers intensified. People rushed up to Naruto and Hinata as things seemed to get out of control and he was lifted up on the shoulders of the ninja and carried back toward town. Hinata followed after with Tsunade and the children. Kushina was cheering "Yay, Daddy!" and Hizashi was smiling but in a Hyuuga manner. A party sprung up in town and lasted well into the night. Years later that night was remembered as the night the war against the Sound changed momentum.

* * *

Water Kitsune whispered, "All Kitsune check in."

"Earth here."

"Fire here."

"Air here."

"Okay, people. Just like we planned it. We get in, hit them and get out. This has to be a clean op, no alerts, no survivors."

A month after the Night, Konoha launched an attack against the forces of Sound. Team Kitsune made the initial strike on the command post for the line the Sound maintained. They attacked with no warning, made no comments and took no prisoners. The Team captured the radios used by the Sound jonin to relay orders as well as the map of the current forces arrayed against the Leaf. They retreated back behind the lines while a general attack was made in a dozen places along the line.

Calls for help and reinforcements were taken and responded to by a team who replied with instructions that threw the entire line into disarray. Casualties mounted for Sound while Leaf loses were relatively light. Team Kitsune seemed to be everywhere in the battles that followed. Strong points the Sound had made were overrun or bypassed and cut off as the Leaf ninja fought with a vigor most of the Sound ninja had never seen.

* * *

"What do you mean Konoha broke our forward lines!" Sasuke yelled at his messenger. "They have not had a successful frontal attack on us in over two years!"

The messenger kept in his kneeling position and got extremely worried about his head. He was the most disposable man in the messenger corps and he was the latest assigned to bring any bad news to their Leader. The messengers bringing bad news to the Otokage had notoriously short careers.

The messenger had to keep going on with his news. "Yes, Otokage-sama. Survivors reported much confusion and that Leaf attacked in many places at once. Units were ordered to hold in place because they were told on the radios reinforcements were coming. Many were cut down where they stood when no help arrived. One retreating squad managed to pass through the headquarters area and reported that the entire command post staff was dead and the radios gone."

Sasuke got red faced as he yelled for one of his generals. "Why were we so unprepared for an attack?"

The general blustered out a reply, "We had no warning that Leaf would attack us, Otokage-sama. Normally we have up to a week's time before any attack is launched. This one came with no warning at all. The loss of a majority of our spy network in Leaf in recent months has cut back on our intelligence of their movements."

The general said nothing more to say because his head no longer remained on his shoulders.

The last living Uchiha still recalled the message ha had received after he ordered the old blacksmith killed. He had dismissed the message as bluster on the part of Naruto but now he was not so certain.

Sasuke growled as he made his orders. "Send fresh troops back to the lines. I want double strength battalions sent out immediately to crush this advance. My negotiations with Rock, Cloud and Mist were going well based on the fact that Leaf was unable to do anything against us. They were almost ready to declare Oto as a Kage level village instead of Konoha. This ruined my plans. I want any Leaf ninja encountered dead!"

* * *

The Sound reinforcements rushed toward the Land of Fire. Normally they would be more cautious but the Otokage had said immediately. They raced along a recently constructed bridge over the gorge downstream from the Valley of the End into the territory they had held for most of the war. They were confident that they would soon be killing Leaf ninja and raiding civilian villages for loot and other more physical treasures.

Most of the Sound force had crossed the bridge when it suddenly blew to pieces. The force stopped to look back and see if anyone still on it survived. The scouts in front reported a single Leaf ninja in a Kitsune mask holding up a truce flag waiting in the road ahead. The force commander strode confidently up to the waiting ninja.

"Coming up to surrender already, Leaf scum?" he asked haughtily.

"Actually, I was here to offer all of YOU a chance to surrender," the masked ninja replied in a calm voice.

"We are going to burn your village and salt the ashes, Leaf scum," the commander threatened.

"So, you will not surrender. I thought I should at least give you the opportunity to save your ninja," the masked ninja said as he dropped the truce flag. "I guess we will have to fight today."

The Sound commander laughed, "If you thought that blowing up that bridge would keep us out, you should have done it before this force arrived."

"Oh, that wasn't done to keep you out, it was done to keep you in," Air Kitsune said softly.

Over one hundred Leaf ninja rose up in an arc around the Sound forces. Each of them bit down on a food pill as their hand flew through hand signs ending in the Tiger. Hands rose to their mouths and all of them shouted, "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fire Style, Grand Fireball Technique). The fireballs all merged into a solid wall of flames around the Sound but most of the Sound ninja jumped back away from them. This however put them closer together.

The Leaf ninja held the technique when behind them, dozens of Sand ninja wielding metal battle fans leapt into the air. They swung their fans shouting Fuuton: Daitoppa (Wind Style: Great Breakthrough) and swung the fans. The wind techniques pushed into the wall of orange fire before it and the fire rose up in blue flame as the winds bore it along.

The Sound forces were engulfed in the flames as it swept over them and out into the air of the gorge. The forested area between the Konoha ninja and the cliff were seared to ash and nothing lived. The few Sound troops on the far cliff turned and fled.

"Mass Jutsu: Hell's Firestorm. Successful, don't you think," Air Kitsune said to the stunned Sound leader before knocking the man unconscious. Air Kitsune then vanished in a cloud of chakra smoke as the shadow clone dispersed.

* * *

Sasuke was furious. In less than a week, his village had lost more troops than it had during the rest of this war with Konoha. The Sound army had been forced completely out of the Land of Fire. His plans of becoming a major player in the ninja world were dust as the envoys from the three major villages left. This was all the fault of that damned blonde haired idiot. If he had not come back then he would be recognized as Otokage by Rock, Cloud and Mist.

Reports from the survivors at the bridge reported Sand ninja aiding the Leaf. Ninja from the Waterfall, Snow, and even the small Haze village were reported by individual teams returning from being attacked on missions. Grass and Rain still bowed before Sound as allies but their ninja were conspicuously absent in the casualty lists his generals had given him.

He raged for hours before it finally dawned on him that he had made way for his own defeat by not killing the Dobe when he had the fool at his mercy. If he had killed Naruto instead of hiding him away in some foolish attempt to show his mercy, he would have already won this war. He knew this new alliance Konoha had with the Sand and the smaller villages was as fragile as a single breath. After the last breath of Naruto, it would fade away.

He needed to find a way to bring Naruto back within his reach. The Dobe would not stick his neck out now that he had been humbled once. Naruto needed a good reason to go walking into a trap he knew was there. Sasuke grinned. To lure in Naruto, he just needed the right bait. That was something he already had.

"Messenger!" Sasuke roared.

* * *

Kakashi looked at the main map with Shikamaru. "You see Hokage-sama? There will not be any more chances for a large scale engagement with Sound forces from now on. We are going to have to fight them in smaller units. Our massed attacks did a lot of damage to their numbers but only knocked out a lot of low end ninja; mainly genin and chunin level. We have to assume their best forces were back in their main village and the old bunkers Orochimaru had as the original Sound."

Kakashi nodded. Deep scouting missions had shown that Sasuke had built a central village for Sound. The old spread out bunkers that Orochimaru had preferred did not suit the Uchiha's taste and ego. The new Sound village looked like an attempt to be better and grander than Leaf had ever been. His personal residence was easily twice the size of the Hokage Tower. Shikamaru had thought on it for hours before coming up with a theory that fit the facts. Sasuke was not looking to simply become a Kage. He was looking to become an Emperor.

Sasuke wanted more than to simply destroy Konoha. He wanted to replace Konoha on the world stage and show the might of the Uchiha. Simply destroying Konoha could have been done in weeks once he had taken Tsunade out of the picture. The chaos and infighting that followed that act had been brutal before Kakashi had ascended to the Hokage chair by a slim margin. But that would not have suited the Uchiha's ego. He wanted Konoha to be beaten by him face to face and he wanted the world to acknowledge it. He would come across as a leader of men if he could sway Konoha ninja to defect and join his Sound village. His ego wanted the acknowledgement of the other major powers that Uchiha was destroyed out of fear not because of being traitors.

Shikamaru also thought out that once Konoha fell, it would not be enough for Uchiha. He would keep going and never be content. He would keep finding a reason, an excuse to never admit he had nothing once his goal was reached and found it to be an empty thing; just like his revenge on Itachi.

"So, what do we need to do, Shikamaru? You are our best strategist," Kakashi asked.

Shikamaru frowned, "We had had a huge boost to morale due to two major victories but that will fade soon if we are forced back into a stance of attrition with Sound. We need to break their will like they almost broke ours. We need to keep up raiding against the Sound's external resources. The Rice Field country was well suited for food but it has few other basic needs past that. It imports much of what it needs as far as war supplies. It we can break their alliance with Rain it will deny them technical support and getting Grass away will cut off their land route to Iwa and its raw materials. Spring Country might be able to blockade its sea access but that would be months away because of Spring's small navy."

Kakashi nodded. He agreed with Shikamaru's view on things. "So, perhaps a series of strikes into Rice Country to hit one or more of the old bunkers Orochimaru had. We have solid locations on at least two of them. How about we have Guy and Lee lead one attack while Team Kitsune lead the other. Since we brought Naruto back to active duty his skills are returning at a faster rate. He is back to roughly a high chunin level of ability in just the past month. His drive is greater since that day but he is missing something of himself."

Shikamaru nodded, "Tsunade would be able to figure it out well enough but she is on that personal mission to Sand you let her go on."

Kakashi smiled, "Tsunade wanted to go on that mission. It will be a surprise when she gets back."

The conversation was interrupted by an ANBU. "Hokage-sama, we have a received a message addressed to Uzumaki Naruto from Uchiha Sasuke."

Kakashi frowned, "This is bad. What would Sasuke be wanting to send a message directly to Naruto?"

Shikamaru rubbed his chin in thought as Kakashi made a quick decision, "I'll send for Naruto. It will likely take him more than a day to return to Konoha from his current location."

* * *

Naruto was upset at having to return to Konoha with no warning. All Kakashi's hound would say was that it was vital. He wanted to get out there and finish Sasuke and his Sound but the sheer scale of what needed to be done still boggled his mind. The smell he remembered from the battle near the bridge still woke him at night. Things he had brushed off in his days as a ninja before Sasuke had hid him away were bothering him now. Eight years as a civilian were hard to shrug off even if the memories of his ninja days were just as fresh as his civilian ones. The duality had not faded as much as he had hoped it would. He wanted the peace and security he had felt back in the forge but he knew he could not have that anymore. Sasuke would never allow him to live in peace. He needed time to still his mind and find the focus he needed. Thinking back on his sage training, he knew that he needed to go through that once more. Once he was in balance with himself, he would be fine.

Naruto followed the hound through the gates with his Air Kitsune mask hidden away. There was a pair of ANBU waiting for him. "We shall take you directly to Hokage-sama, Uzumaki-san."

Once in the office, Naruto was asked to wait while Kakashi sent for a few people. Within fifteen minutes, the remnants of the 'Konoha Eleven' who were still in the village had arrived in the office. Hinata sat with him while Hiashi had come along and stood back with Neji and TenTen. Lee, Guy and Yamato were still up with the fighting. Naruto nodded to Shino, and Kurenai but Kiba just sat sullenly on the far side of the room. Shikamaru came in with Kakashi. Kakashi looked very upset even through his mask.

"I have disturbing news. Uchiha has sent out a personal challenge to you, Naruto. He wants you to meet him in the Valley of the End in two weeks."

"Uchiha can go suck snakes if he thinks I'll walk into a trap," Naruto growled.

Kakashi sighed, "I feel the same way but he included something else in the note." Kakashi held up a lock of pink hair. "He said if you do not show he will send us the rest of her; one piece at a time."

* * *

Next Chapter: Showdown in the Valley.

* * *

End Notes: I used a bit from the movie Magnificent Seven in this chapter. The bandit leader comments on all the new walls the peasants had built in their town; asking if they are meant to keep him out. The leader of the Seven comments, 'They're not meant to keep you out, they're to keep you in'

Yup, I continue to pound on the Uchiha's reputation. I never liked the canon character from the first moment I set eyes on him. The guy had every break, every benefit and he still pushed it all away for something that has no value. I will admit I always write him dark and evil but I still feel that I do not bash the character. I write him strong but he is arrogant and too proud of a heritage he has contributed nothing to. He chose his path into darkness, no one forced it on him. Time after time, Kishimoto could have pulled him back into the light but let the character continue his path of self destruction. When Itachi died, Sasuke could have called his vengeance finished but instead he blames all of Konoha when he finds it to be an empty revenge. This story version of Sasuke follows that line of thinking. Once his destruction of Konoha is complete, what next? What will he do next to fill the void that his revenge has left him with? The next step would be to get all ninja and all of the world.

But alas, a Bond movie title says something true, The World is Not Enough.


	13. Showdown in the Valley

**Showdown in the Valley**

"_I have disturbing news. Uchiha has sent out a personal challenge to you, Naruto. He wants you to meet him in the Valley of the End in two weeks."_

"_Uchiha can go suck snakes if he thinks I'll walk into a trap," Naruto growled._

_Kakashi sighed, "I feel the same way but he included something else in the note." Kakashi held up a lock of pink hair. "He said if you do not show he will send us the rest of her; one piece at a time."_

* * *

Naruto was enraged again by the actions of that Uchiha. He needed to make a lot of plans. He had to be ready for a fight for his life at the Valley. Unfortunately, he was nowhere near his top form. Sasuke would have him outclassed at every turn after his long time as a civilian.

On top of that, there was the offensive. He was a part of the planned strikes as a part of Team Kitsune. All of those plans would need to be changed. The Team could function with three or a temporary spare but he hated being forced to leave the field.

Then, there was the last thing on his list. He needed to talk to Hinata in private. He needed her to be all right with any decision to face the Uchiha. The fact that it involved Sakura made it worse. He loved his wife dearly but there is always something about the first crush that resonates in a person. For years he had chased after Sakura and never had a chance. Then the betrothal to Hinata and getting to know her before falling in love with the woman who loved him enough to give up everything.

For a moment he just wanted to get away from all of this. To wake up in his loft at the forge and find it was nothing but a sake dream. But he knew better than to hope that.

Naruto looked back up at Kakashi, "He knows I cannot beat him in a fair fight. He is doing this to break us once and for all. If I go and fight and die, the fragile alliance against him will shatter. If I refuse to fight, he will boast that I was too much of a coward to face him and the alliance will doubt if we can win."

"But he thinks wrong. He missed out on a few points that have changed. He thinks I am the Naruto he knew 8 years ago. I am more than that now. I don't need to be stronger than him, just better. I also am going to do the one thing he seems to forget when we fight. He expects me to want and fight a fair duel but seems to miss the point. I am a ninja and ninja do not do 'fair'."

The meeting would have continued after that but Naruto walked to Hinata and picked her up and walked out. Kakashi was surprised but hid it well. He asked for ideas on making sure that getting to and from the Valley could be accomplished.

* * *

Naruto raced along the rooftops until he reached the training areas. Then he made his way to the Memorial Stone and three posts. They posts were different than the ones from years before but they were in the same places. He set Hinata back on her feet and looked at her beautiful face in silence.

Tears ran down her face as she looked at her husband. She knew he would accept the challenge. He had no choice. Now she waited for him to tell her that he was doing it because of his love for Sakura. Instead she found herself wrapped in a hug.

"I don't know if I can defeat the Uchiha, Hinata-chan. I almost wish that I was never found. But that wouldn't be fair to you or the children. I am glad they had a chance to meet their father," Naruto said in a soft voice.

Hinata looked up at her husband, "You sound like you are giving up. But you never give up."

"No, not giving up so much as being realistic. I have a slim chance but that is all. I am not ready to access nature chakra yet. I don't trust the Kyuubi enough to risk using its chakra. As I am now I might be able to pass off as a raw jonin in terms of ability but that is it. The Uchiha has that working against me."

"You keep calling him 'the Uchiha' now. Why is that?"

"Because Sasuke is the name of a person who I once considered one of my precious people. The man he has become is not that person. This man is just another damned power hungry Uchiha. Just like the rest of his cursed clan. Itachi should have finished the job all those years ago and saved the world the trouble. Now it falls to me."

"You're not doing this for Sakura?"

"I have to admit she is a part of my reason but not the main one. Uchiha forced me into this fight by using her because he knows I cannot just abandon her to be killed like that. She may even be on his side in all of this and he is running a bluff. I won't know until the fight."

Hinata looked down, "I was afraid that you would go running off to save your lost love. That I would get pushed aside."

Naruto gently lifted her head with a hand under her chin, "My lost love is in my arms right now. My friend is a prize in a duel. I know the difference, my wife."

* * *

A half hour after Naruto left, Kakashi was nowhere close to any plans. He was about to dismiss everyone when Naruto and Hinata returned.

Kakashi turned his gaze to Naruto, "Next time give me some warning."

Naruto grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, I had something I needed to discuss with my wife first. All you married guys should know, no dueling without the wife's permission."

That comment got a few chuckles from the married men. Hinata playfully harrumphed and smacked him on the arm.

"I have a few ideas for this fight. Let's get together tomorrow morning after I get a few of them played out in my mind," Naruto said to Shikamaru.

The Nara heir nodded and he meeting began to break up.

Kakashi smiled under his mask, "So I assume the answer is yes."

"I have no choice in that, Kakashi. But I have a few stipulations of my own for the reply."

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke chuckled at the reply to his challenge. 'The fool wants to bring seconds and a medic as if that would save his life.' He would even be generous and allow the condition that no matter who wins or loses Sakura leaves with the party from Konoha. The woman was no longer of any use to him now so he would allow it. Konoha would not last more than six months after he defeated Naruto anyhow.

* * *

Naruto was busier than he had ever been before. He had his clones doing wind chakra training while he was in the Hyuuga library. He was with another group poring over scroll after scroll of intelligence on general Uchiha and Sasuke's fighting style looking for something that could help. He was writing notes in shorthand as he went.

Uchiha was most comfortable using lightning attacks based off of the Chidori. He liked using his sword as a primary weapon. That had not changed over the years. The Uchiha had become more well rounded according to battle reports but he had not been seen in a fight in over four years now. He might be rusty sitting around as a ruler. He would not let himself grow weak but he was not likely in his top form.

'Remove the sword from play. Stop his lightning based attacks. Play against his ego and make him lose his cool,' Naruto thought as he looked over his notes.

He leaned back as another clone wore itself out and the training memories filtered into Naruto. 'This is harder than I thought. With only the minimum of Kyuubi chakra added in on purpose, the clones are much weaker. But I have no choice in that.'

Naruto rubbed his face as Neji came in to see him. Naruto smiled up at the man who had become his best friend since his return.

"How's it going, Naruto?" the man asked.

"Slow, Neji. Very slow. My plans keep coming up short. I keep having no counter for both his sword and his variants of Chidori. The only good thing so far is my toad returning from his mission to the mountains," Naruto replied.

Neji picked up the pile of notes to look at them and frowned, "What language are you writing in here, Naruto? I can barely understand half of what you wrote."

Naruto chuckled, "Oh, that. It is just something Kama taught me. He said it was the secret language of the smiths. Some of it is normal but there are a few things different that relate to smithing. It is easier for me than normal writing."

Neji pointed at a series of characters, "I have seen some of these before, Naruto. In the scrolls of your father after you disappeared. Hinata let the Hyuuga access them as part of the betrothal agreement. None of us could understand them. There was a whole section of writing like this."

Naruto thought back. His memories of the scrolls were fuzzy since he had only looked them over once and not understood most of them. He had hoped to learn the Hiraishin after he had gotten them but couldn't read the instructions.

Suddenly it clicked. Hiashi said his father had been the son of a weaponsmith. His father must have written all of his scrolls in the dialect of the smiths as a security measure. He went over to the scrolls once more and pulled out the ones written by his father. He smiled up at Neji after looking them over.

"Is it something good?" Neji asked.

"Oh yes," Naruto replied. "The formula for crafting the special kunai, how to construct the seals, even the hand signs. Everything is written here. I think we found our edge."

* * *

Naruto was lucky that the Hyuuga sealmaster was willing to help him. The old man had always taken a strange pride in his ability to craft the caged bird seal flawlessly. But he soon learned his ability as a sealmaster was several steps below that of the Fourth. Namikaze Minato had created a work of art that he could barely understand but after a week's time had been able to copy. Once he was able to recreate the seal for the kunai, he had to re-do it in Naruto's blood so that it could act as a summons for Naruto himself. The old man realized that he could spend the rest of his life tearing apart the main seal and still not understand it all. However, while creation was difficult, duplication was much easier.

Neji and Naruto worked in the forge while the sealmaster worked on the seal. They had tried dozens of times on the first day to get the kunai right. Each time they failed. The sole original they had was looking like that would be the only one until TenTen slapped both of them on the side of the head and pointed out a mistake they were making. The special kunai was more of a miniature sword than a kunai. Both men shook their heads and saw what she had said. Naruto hung his head at missing the simple mistake but even TenTen reminded him he was under a lot of stress. They were able to make only a dozen before they ran out of the needed materials.

In the training fields, clones of Naruto practiced the hand seals for the Hiraishin. The days slid by faster than anyone in Konoha had wanted but at last three days before leaving for the scheduled duel, everything was ready to test.

Naruto breathed slowly as he threw the newly made kunai and seals to various parts of the training field. The moment of truth was at hand. His clones had trained the equivalent of years on the hand signs he was about to make. The scarred man flashed through the signs and channeled his chakra and vanished in a flash of yellow light to reappear across the training field. He started to smile and wave when pain racked his entire body and he fell over vomiting blood.

* * *

Naruto was sitting in the Hokage's office two days later while Kakashi and Hinata looked at him. He was puzzling out what the sealmaster had found in his latest analysis. The portion of the seal that identified who would be teleported was copied directly from the original. It was trying to move Minato not Naruto. Only the fact that Naruto was his son had allowed him to even survive the attempt. The man was busy repairing the seal to read Naruto but he doubted he could do it fast enough for more than a handful of seals.

Tsunade hobbled into the room since she had just arrived back from Suna. "Well, gaki, you almost killed yourself on that stunt. I swear you must like trying the impossible and surviving. This time you almost didn't."

Naruto sighed, "We were desperate, Baa-chan. I can't beat him in the state I am in and now this makes it worse. I have twenty four hours before we need to leave for the Valley. You managed to fix my body but that doesn't fix my problem. I have a planned counter for the sword. The lightning and fire jutsu of his will still be a problem. Hand to Hand I think I can match him for a little while. We needed an edge."

"You'll have one. If you don't; you'll make one, Naruto. This time, the Uchiha is the one going in stupid. He expects the Naruto he knew. He will find something he didn't expect. Last thing I have to say is I am going to be the medic with you."

Naruto looked shocked. "But Baa-chan, your leg."

Tsunade smirked, "Don't worry about my leg. Who is going to be your second?"

Kakashi stood up, "I am. I am not giving him a choice about that either. So, it could be the last hurrah for the Hokages; past, present and maybe future. We either win or there will not be much of a chance for Konoha anyway if we lose."

* * *

Naruto tucked Hizashi and Kushina into bed. Both children knew something was wrong but both had been told often during the past two weeks that it was something Daddy needed to do. Once in his own bed, Hinata clung tightly to him. He comforted her fears to the best of his ability. When other desires arose, he tended to those as well. The noises coming from the bedroom that night showed that Naruto had learned more as Jiraiya's apprentice than simply ninja skills.

In the morning, the family gathered to say goodbye. Kushina was trying to smile for her Daddy but tears were leaking from her eyes. Naruto went to one knee brushed her sun yellow hair from her face and hugged the girl. "I'll be home as soon as I can, sweetie."

"Do you promise, Daddy? The bad man won't take you away again?" she asked in a small voice.

"No, as long as I am alive, I will never let that happen."

Naruto looked at Hizashi, "Remember, if I don't come back. You have to find me and beat me up for hurting your Mommy. Got it?"

The dark haired boy smiled slightly.

Finally, Naruto turned to Hinata. He hugged his wife tightly and kissed her. "I'll be back. I promise."

Hinata nodded slowly, "I intended to hold you to that husband. I get the feeling after last night there might be a little brother or sister for these two and I expect you to be here for this one."

Naruto smiled before turning to leave. Kakashi and Tsunade were waiting at the gate. Kakashi would tree run like Naruto but Tsunade was riding on a large white stallion she had named 'Gallant'. The trio left Konoha with no fanfare.

Naruto commented on the horse, "I guess that it's a good thing you did not directly name him after ero-sennin, Baa-chan. The old lecher would be preening up there with Kami to find out that you had your legs wrapped around a stallion named 'Jiraiya'."

Kakashi laughed out loud at the joke and Tsunade maintained enough dignity to only blush before replying, "Oh be quiet, gaki. You and Hinata kept me up half the night."

Naruto just grinned.

* * *

The trip to the Valley of the End took most of a day. They camped out a few miles short of the rift with a large encampment of Konoha ninja. Scouts on the Fire Country side of the river reported a large camp of Sound forces on the opposite side.

During the night, several small groups made their own way into the Valley to set up some equipment. A large surprise was waiting for the Leaf ninja come dawn. Sasuke had a number of movie cameras brought in and set up around the perimeter of the Valley to record the fight.

An hour after dawn, Naruto, Kakashi and Tsunade appeared on the Fire Country side of the Valley. A scout on the other side gestured and within minutes, Sasuke appeared on his side. The former teammates both advanced to stand on the heads of the statues as they had many years earlier.

Sasuke had only been told that Naruto was badly scarred. Now he was seeing his handiwork. The patchwork of scars on one side of Naruto's face coupled with the melted looking burn scars on the other made for a gruesome sight. But the blue eyes still shone with the same fire that bothered the Uchiha for years.

"So, you decided to show your face, what's left of it, after all. I thought you would have been running the other way by now, Naruto."

"Run? From you? As if. You only beat me last time because I let my guard down. I see you are still going for the Orochimaru Junior look. Still hoping for your Sugar Daddy to untie your butt bow again, Uchiha?"

"A joker to the end, is it Naruto? I think it is time we settle this." Sasuke gestured, "The whole world will get to see your failure in living color."

"Before we get this going, Uchiha, you need to fulfill your side. Where is Sakura? You agreed win or lose, she goes home with the Leaf side."

"Always gallant, just like your teacher huh Naruto?" Sasuke gestured and a snake slithered down into the Valley with a Sound ninja on it holding a blanket wrapped bundle. The snake moved up to Tsunade and Kakashi and the ninja set the bundle on the ground then made a hasty retreat. Tsunade lifted the blanket and gasped. Both of Kakashi's eyebrows lifted in horror.

"What is it?" Naruto asked.

Tsunade kept herself between Sakura and Naruto so he could not see. She narrowed her gaze at Sasuke who merely smirked and chuckled like his own Sannin teacher. "Naruto, just tear him to shreds," she said in a husky voice edged with rage. Then she turned her attention back to the blanket covered woman. She summoned a slug to carry Sakura back to the encampment.

Sasuke leapt from the Madara statue towards Naruto on the First. Naruto blocked the first strike and countered with a leg sweep as Sasuke was landing. Sasuke blocked but found Naruto behind him grabbing hold of the rope belt and hurling the dark haired man off the statue and down the face of the waterfall. Naruto then jumped down and leapt back down the cliff face and forth to land on the bank near where the Uchiha had impacted in the water.

Sasuke exploded out of the water and engaged Naruto with taijutsu. The pair sent punches, kicks and whatever else they could at each other but both managed to defend against the rain of blows they sent at one another. They leapt back to stand on the same spots where they had been when they had made their final attacks in Sasuke's defection.

"You are better than I expected, Naruto. I might have to exert myself," Sasuke said through his panting.

"Don't worry yourself, Uchiha. I am just getting started," Naruto said panting just as hard.

"Funny, you always used to call me 'teme' or Sasuke before, Naruto. What is with this whole 'Uchiha' bit?" Sasuke taunted.

"Because it took me a few years to realize something. Sasuke was my friend and calling you 'teme' was my way of showing you respect. Just like with the Old Man, Ero-Sennin and Baa-chan. Now, you are just another damned Uchiha. A lying, thieving traitor just like the rest of your Kami damned clan who should have been killed along with all the rest of the vermin."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the reference to his clan. "You will suffer for that insult, Naruto."

"Bring it, Uchiha."

Sasuke made the hand signs for a Chidori but was surprised when Naruto countered by throwing explosive tagged kunai. The Uchiha dodged the explosion while Naruto ran up the side of the cliff to the larger lake above the waterfall.

"Running away already, Naruto?" Sasuke jeered.

Naruto led Sasuke to the middle of the lake and stopped. The scarred man took up a stance Sasuke had never seen and waited. Sasuke stood while his eyes tried to recognize the style and counter it. Naruto just stood motionless while the waves of the lake made it seem like he was bouncing up and down.

'He is taking advantage of the waves in the lake to confuse my Sharingan.' Sasuke thought. 'No matter, he cannot stop me. I am invincible and now the world will see it.'

Sasuke charged with his eyes analyzing what Naruto was doing. Still the scarred man stood unmoving until Sasuke was upon him before acting too fast for Sasuke to react to it. Naruto twisted his body to let Sasuke's punch side past and countered with a devastating blow to the stomach. Sasuke had his breath stopped as his diaphragm contracted.

Naruto followed up with a double fisted hammer blow to the back of Sasuke's neck. Sasuke slid down into the lake under the force of the blow. Before the Uchiha disappeared beneath the waves, Naruto grabbed the rope belt and took several steps away before swinging Sasuke around by it. After several spins, Sasuke was sent flying to skip across the water and land on the shore.

Sasuke was on his feet and growled in annoyance. He was having a harder time dealing with this nuisance than he had thought he would. He did not fight like the Naruto he remembered at all. He had a different taijutsu style. He had a different attitude. Most importantly, Sasuke realized that Naruto was not simply trying to win. Naruto was looking to hurt him. Without his curse seal from the last big fight, Sasuke only had his Mangekyu Sharingan. He did not want to have to resort to his ultimate technique to beat Naruto. It would look bad.

Sasuke summoned the Kusanagi he had recovered when he took over Sound. The legendary sword Orochimaru had wielded against Sarutobi should prove to be able to defeat Naruto. Sasuke chuckled as he waited for Naruto to come ashore.

Naruto was surprised he had been doing so well up until now. He actually had an edge on Sasuke in taijutsu due to his new style and patience. He saw that most of his losses to Sasuke occurred because he had always rushed in headlong and Sasuke's style was based more on defense and reacting to attacks to counter them. The cameras around the Valley had picked up all of the action so far so he knew that people would see Sasuke was not invincible even if he lost in the end. He walked to the shore and pulled out a kunai to counter Sasuke's sword.

Sasuke laughed at seeing Naruto with only a kunai against his sword. "You have a death wish, Naruto? That kunai is no match for this sword."

"Well, my sword ability is not with the metal ones, Uchiha. Besides, what do you need such a big weapon for Uke-chan? I think you are trying to compensate for something."

Sasuke growled before channeling lightning chakra into the blade and attacking. Naruto blocked the sword with his kunai after charging it with air chakra. The scarred man held off the one handed strike before side stepping and letting Sasuke stagger past. Sasuke took a double handed grip and attacked again.

Inwardly, Naruto grinned. Sasuke was reacting like Naruto had expected him too. He could not keep up the pace he was setting for much longer. He was using his chakra to speed up his own reaction times and strength. With the Kyuubi chakra suppressed, he was wearing out very quickly. He figured he only had about five more minutes before he collapsed or needed to draw on the demon's chakra.

Once more Naruto parried the sword, but this time his free hand flared with chakra as he summoned a weapon. His right hand closed on the worn leather grip of a smith's hammer. The twenty five pound hammer was not meant for fighting but in this case it was the perfect tool for the job.

He brought the hammer down across Sasuke's forearm and was delighted to hear satisfying crunch as the radius and ulna both broke and bent under the strike. Since Sasuke had never seen or expected such an attack he did not prepare for it. The Uchiha howled in pain and dropped the sword as he staggered back from a follow up swing that would have removed his head if it connected.

The Kusanagi clattered as Naruto kicked it onto a pair of rocks. Sasuke saw Naruto lift the hammer and sneered in spite of his pain. "You can't break that sword with a plain hammer you idiot."

"What is made, can be unmade, Uchiha," Naruto said in a low voice as he blinked as his memory kicked in.

_

* * *

_

Naruto looked at the cage holding the Kyuubi. "Hello Kitsune."

"_What do you want, boy?" the voice rumbled. "You refuse my gifts and now come asking for more?"_

"_I know being sealed away like you had been was draining on you Kitsune. Your cage is smaller. Your fur is no longer red, but maroon. You are bound to me now. When I die, you follow. Nothing you do or try will stop that. The years you were sealed away completely changed us both. You felt that when our chakra was freed. You had to stop your last attempt and release the chakra in a huge pulse that was felt across the Elemental Countries. My body cannot tolerate large amounts of your chakra now. Drawing on more than two tails would kill us. In spite of everything you have done, I wish to grant you a boon."_

"_What kind of boon would a monkey like you be able to offer a demon like me?"_

"_I wish to give you the opportunity to destroy a legend. When the time comes, I want enough of your chakra infused into my Master's old hammer to destroy the Kusanagi Sword."_

"_And you consider this a boon?"_

"_Should I win, I will have the history written to give you the credit for its destruction. That sword has killed many demons in its time, vanquished many kitsune over its lifetime when it was held in the hands of good men. I am offering you the chance to destroy it and have your name in history as the one to defeat it. Since it will be the last known act of the Kyuubi no Kitsune outside of your death"_

_There was a long pause._

"_You make an interesting offer, mortal. If the opportunity comes, I shall do it. You have made a bargain and you have enough of my influence over the years to insure that like a kitsune, you will keep your word."_

* * *

The hammer glowed a bright red as an aura of chakra formed around it. Naruto brought the hammer down and struck. There was a sound like glass breaking as the hammer contacted the legendary sword before both items broke into fragments.

Naruto spoke loud enough for the cameras to pick up, "So goes the vengeance of the Kyuubi no Kitsune upon the sword that killed so many of its kind. The demon I hold captive gave its power to destroy the legendary sword. The Hammer of Kama, my master, the innocent man you had killed for no reason, struck the blow."

Inside of his head, the demon chuckled in its cage. Before sleep came upon it once more, it thought, '_Keeping his word with flair. The boy would have made a fine kitsune_.'

Sasuke roared in a rage as he saw the legendary sword shatter. He stood to fight but found his broken arm made it difficult to make the hand signs he needed. Naruto fell to his knees and began vomiting from the effects of the demonic chakra in his system. Sasuke grinned ferally and managed to flow the signs needed for a Chidori. Lightning chakra gathered in his hand as he stepped up to Naruto.

"I win," he gloated as he stood over Naruto.

Naruto gave his old foxy grin of old, "And you lost as well, Uchiha." Naruto made a hand seal and vanished in a flash of yellow light to reappear back at Kakashi and Tsunade.

"I concede the duel, Uchiha, since neither of us is fit to continue," Naruto yelled across the Valley. "Also since you never said it was to the death, I consider it completed."

Sasuke raged once more. "Kill them !!!!!" Sound forces came over the edge of the Valley where he was holding his arm and raced to attack.

Kakashi helped Naruto to his feet and smiled that the Hiraishin had worked to get the younger man out of deadly danger. "You okay, Naruto?"

"Yeah, it took more of the Kyuubi's chakra than I expected to shatter that sword. Right up on the upper edge of what would have killed me if I had to hold it for long. A flash through, I can recover from."

Kakashi was surprised at what Naruto said. The scarred man had never said anything about that in the past. 'Well that does explain why he has been so adamant about not using its chakra,' Kakashi thought. 'It isn't that he is afraid to lose control. It poisons him just like any other mortal now. He was just being Naruto and not having anyone worry about him.'

"Boys, get ready. Our reinforcements are not as close as his," Tsunade called out as dozens of Sound ninja closed on their position. Kakashi handed Naruto a food pill, who took it gratefully. The trio stood in a triangle with Tsunade in the back. Naruto opened up the battle muttering "Fuuton Daitoppa" as he exhaled. The wind gust pushed back the ninja on his side so that they were not overwhelmed.

The Sound ninja landed around the trio as they all pulled out weapons. Tsunade turned and swung her cane backed by her enhanced strength; decapitating three with a single swing. Kakashi finished the long series of hand signs to create a water dragon that took out another half dozen. The rest of the Sound ninja were more wary after that but still pressed their attack. Tsunade saw a familiar face in their enemy and hurled a fist sized rock through his chest muttering, "Damned traitor".

Naruto was feeling better with the food pill giving him a recharge and made a half dozen shadow clones to help him as the ninja he had blown away came at them again. The trio was surrounded as the enemy pressed their attack at Tsunade, who they assumed would be their weakest link. She took them all by surprise when she was as agile as Naruto and Kakashi and she swung her cane again taking out two more enemies. Kakashi chuckled as he created a Raikiri and struck down three more.

Naruto's clones were being more straightforward and simply getting inside the enemies guard and slicing their throats. He knew he did not have the chakra to spare after the brief but intense fight with Sasuke. The food pill had given him the strength to make the shadow clones but that was fading fast. The Sound ninja were ready to fall upon them once more when the reinforcements from the camp arrived. The stalemate turned into a rout as the Konoha ninja had no mercy for their enemies.

All the while, the cameras were sending out the signal. The camp had seen the video. The world saw everything, including what had become of Sakura under the hand of the Sound Village.

* * *

Next Chapter: The Sakura Crusade

* * *

**End Notes:** I know people are going to yell over me not revealing the condition of Sakura.

I also made Naruto extremely underpowered for this fight. I intended for him to be that way. I made him almost kill himself three days prior with a bad Hiraishin test and I also revealed that the long sealing had made the Kyuubi chakra poisonous to him now. He also had to fight to kill while Sasuke was fighting to make Naruto look bad. The opposite occurred. Much like in the original VotE when Naruto was fighting to stop Sasuke and Sasuke was fighting to kill him. Two obviously killing blows to Naruto that the Kyuubi prevented cannot be mitigated by the final act of Sasuke not killing a helpless Naruto at the end of the first fight.

**Review Notes:** I admit I have had this version of Sasuke more influenced by Orochimaru's personality than most. The old guy had been living in Sasuke's head for a number of months and I am seeing it that Itachi did not quite get rid of it all. The residual bits affected Sasuke into becoming much more like the Snake Sannin.

I did not post that directly earlier because a writer has to be like a ninja and not reveal everything they know up front.


	14. The Sakura Crusade

**The Sakura Crusade**

The patient was sleeping quietly with several IV lines in her arms. The only thing that allowed any viewer to know that the woman was Haruno Sakura was the tattered pink hair on her head. Her features were severely malnourished and sunken. Had anyone looked under the sheets, they would think they were looking at a skin covered skeleton. It was something bordering on a miracle that she was alive to begin with. The nurses attending the woman often wondered what was going on inside of her head. They had run a full battery of medical tests and there were many anomalies that they did not want to contemplate until the woman was recovered enough to talk to her caretakers.

Tsunade turned away from the ICU ward and walked out of the hospital. She walked unaided today. She would no longer pretend to be hobbled by her leg injury. She had visited the Sand in the month prior Naruto's showdown with Uchiha. The medics there had taken Elder Chiyo's work on prosthetics to a new high. Chiyo had been able to manipulate her artificial arm as skillfully as a real one through puppetry. The Sand puppeteers and medics advanced their work to fuse a prosthesis into a person's chakra network in the time since Chiyo's death. The limb would function as well as a normal limb and conduct chakra well enough to cast jutsu.

Tsunade had been offered the chance to have her severed limb replaced by Gaara on his recent visit to Konoha. She had been eager to take the chance. The crippling injury was something she had always regretted. She had faced Uchiha drunk and paid the price. At the time of her injury there were only 3 medics in Konoha with the skill to reattach a limb; Tsunade, Shizune and Sakura. Tsunade could not operate on herself. Shizune had been killed and Sakura had been missing after the incident. She had to suffer the loss of her leg forever.

She had gone into the recent battle at the Valley of the End with a pair of working legs but told no one of the plan outside of Kakashi. They had needed all the cards stacked in their favor to pull it off with no casualties. Her thoughts were clear as she walked into the Hokage Tower. The Uchiha had taken away one of her daughters. Then he had grievously injured the second. Tsunade did not even flinch at thinking of Shizune and Sakura as her daughters. She had never had any children of her own but both women had become as dear to her as a child of her own flesh would have been. She was old now, over 64 years old, but in terms of overall power and health she still rivaled ninja in their 30's.

Kakashi was holding the meeting for Tsunade's arrival. The few members of Konoha's active forces who he trusted most were present. Naruto sat in silence holding hands with his wife Hinata. Guy and Lee were sitting quietly as well. Shikamaru was thinking of plans for the destruction of Sound but not getting far into them. Several other ninja commanders sat waiting as the elder arrived.

Kakashi nodded to Tsunade "Okay, time to get this planning meeting started. Everyone has seen the camera footage by now of Sakura. Safe to say everyone who saw it is upset. We need to push hard against Sound now while people are still shocked by it. Sound's allies will likely be rethinking their alliances with Uchiha and a good victory over Sound might just break them up. We are going with the last plan we had before the duel. We are hitting a pair of Sound's original bunkers in Rice Country."

Kakashi looked harshly at the commanders, Iruka and Guy. "I want 2 things. First, I want the total annihilation of the targets; Scored Earth. Second and this one is more important. I want NO hint of any atrocities in our actions. Minimal civilian casualties are a must and fair treatment of any prisoners. If someone surrenders we accept it. There will be no killing of surrendered enemies. There will be no killing of enemy wounded unless medical personnel do it due to wounds. We have the moral upper hand at the moment and we need to use it wisely. This is not about revenge. I'll personally cut the hands off of anyone who does something to a prisoner."

"Tsunade has agreed to go along with the follow up teams to handle prisoners and wounded from both sides. She will be in command of that portion of the operation. As a former Hokage, she can speak for Konoha."

The assembled ninja nodded their understanding.

"Tsunade is going to brief us on Sakura now," Kakashi said quietly as he sat and gestured to the blonde woman.

Tsunade looked at everyone and saw the steel in their eyes. She opened a folder and began.

"Sakura's condition right now remains critical. She has suffered from prolonged starvation and malnutrition. We are treating those first. She has a few minor conditions from her transport by Sound and later by us to get her home. Those are being treated as well. She has currently slipped into a coma as her body tries to heal. We are letting that go on until she awakens naturally but monitor her closely. A full debrief will have to wait until she has recovered enough to talk to us. A quick medical checkup finds no illness or major physical abuse other than her underfed state. There is some minor scarring in her pelvic region that indicates she has had at least one pregnancy to term and delivered by caesarian section."

The last bit of information shocked everyone more than the rest. Hinata lightly stroked Naruto's arm as he bristled under the information. Tsunade choked up and simply stopped and sat down.

Kakashi stood up and looked over the gathered people. "Return to your units and we strike in 48 hours."

* * *

The commanders made their way back to the front. Strike groups of Konoha and Sand ninja were laced with ninja from minor villages. Star, Waterfall and Haze ninja looked nervous but the commanders took time to brief each group. A trio of medics from the Demon country worked alongside the medics from the Land of Birds. All of them were waiting for the word to go. Scouts from the Moon village indicated that they were ready.

It began by accident. A genin from Konoha carrying supplies to the cook had tripped and fallen to the ground near a grove of sakura trees. He saw the trees and sighed softly. The apprentice of Tsunade was one person that had always stood out in Konoha with her pink hair and warm personality. He had even met her once as a child when she worked in the hospital. He stood and brushed off the flour from his clothes and bandaged his scraped hand. The flour and blood left a pink smear on his pants.

The young teen went back to work in the camp kitchen when he noticed the smear. 'Pink, wonderful,' he thought until the color made his thoughts returned to the medic. He got angry at what the video of the Valley battle showed of her condition. He wanted to go help but genin were forbidden to get any closer than the camp and support roles.

A sudden thought made him hurry back to the fallen flour with some water and red food coloring. The water mixed with the flour to make a paste. He added the food coloring drop by drop as he stirred until it made a close match to the color he remembered of Sakura's hair.

The head cook came out just as he was finishing. "Lazy genin, get back to work!" the man shouted.

The teen just kept on with his mixing until it was the right consistency. He dabbed his fingers into the pink mixture and dragged it across his forehead protector like finger paint. "I cannot fight for her, but I will show my support for Sakura," the genin declared. The cook raised an eyebrow but said nothing more.

The other genin in the kitchen area saw and heard what the one had said and they applied the pink paste to their forehead protectors as well. People showing up for dinner saw and heard about what the teen had done and added their own pink line. It spread throughout the camp and beyond as fast as word could travel. Ninja on the side of the Leaf were one by one painting their forehead protectors cherry blossom pink.

The Crusade had begun.

* * *

The noon sun beat down on the guards. They were tired from long shifts on alert. They had word that the Leaf forces would attack but the alert lasted all night with no attack. Now the heat of the day was making the guards tired after little sleep the previous night. One heard something in the brush and turned to look only to get a kunai to the throat. The Sound guard died without a sound.

Water Kitsune gestured to the rest of his team. They closed in on the guard post in silence. 'Iruka will always be the champ at kunai throwing,' Naruto thought behind his mask. Only TenTen could give the former teacher a run at accuracy in target throwing. Air Kitsune rushed to the doorway at the bottom of the stairs and peered inside. The long hallway sloped downward deeper into the hillside. He created a half dozen shadow clones and passed them the paper charges. The clones ran off down the hallway after Air Kitsune activated the explosives with his chakra. Each note was placed on a support beam in the hall and the clones dispersed returning their memories and a large portion of their chakra back to the original.

The sage techniques had taught Naruto more about how his chakra moved within the shadow clones than most people realized. The reason for memories returning was that some of the chakra returned as well. That was why when a clone charged with nature chakra sent its collected chakra to Naruto. The more he focused on the shadow clone technique with his normal chakra, the more he got back. A self dispersed clone sent back much more chakra than a forced dispersal. There was always some loss but the more he practiced at the technique the more chakra Naruto could recoup after a clone vanished at will.

The demolition charges blew and the tunnel collapsed.

Other exits to the bunker were blown in sequence by other teams until only a single way in or out of the bunker existed. The Sound forces trapped inside waited until they received word from the army outside. The call to surrender or die was taken seriously by many but few were willing to test the kindness of the Leaf. The hard core followers of Uchiha brutally slew any from within their ranks who made a call to give up. The rest wisely kept their mouths shut. The Sound ninja forced their way down the last remaining exit to the sunlight and were greeted by a firestorm. Few survived but the ones that did and surrendered were treated as Kakashi had ordered.

The Leaf Alliance forces stormed into the bunker behind Team Kitsune. The few holdouts were killed or taken captive. Salvage teams were brought in and pulled out any useful supplies and all documents that could be found. Demolition teams set charges and ran wires back to the entrance. Two hours after the first explosions, the rest of the bunker was collapsed from within.

* * *

Guy and Lee walked up to the guard post of another bunker about twenty miles away. Lee spoke in a quiet voice, "Will you surrender?" The Sound chunin looked at the Konoha jonin and chuckled. Lee had added a pink cloth to replace the previous black cloth at his waist.

"Um, no," said the Sound guard.

Lee nodded and moved faster than the guard could follow. Pain flooded his nose before he felt nothing else ever again. Lee had connected with a single punch that shattered his nose and driven the fragments back into the chunin's brain. Guy looked at the other guard and asked, "Will you surrender?" The guard meekly nodded and was knocked out with a chop to the neck.

Guy and Lee walked into the base. All that would be said by the survivors is that neither Lee nor Guy would ask someone twice to surrender. Jutsu cast at them were moved around or battered down without consideration and the casters struck down without mercy. Those who surrendered were rendered unconscious and carried out later by teams working behind Lee and Guy.

The pair of jonin later sat outside as the sun set before them. Lee just stared at it and cried as Guy stood watch. The younger man spoke in a low voice, "Naruto-kun was right. Fires can be relit but I fear, Guy-Sensei that mine will be out for a long time before that day arrives. Revenge is not a youthful feeling. I forced it back and I took Hokage-sama's instructions to heart. No killing those that surrendered but I could not show mercy for those that would not. I hope Sakura-chan can forgive my weakness."

Guy just nodded at his student and friend. He too had been tempted to simply destroy anything related to the Sound but like Lee he saw the price of doing so was too high. The pair would be without their fires again for some time but in doing so they had kept their souls intact.

The deep underground rumbles of explosives were heard as the bunker caved in.

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke was angry. His medics rapidly healed his arm but his forces were taking massive losses. The Leaf and its partners were pressing from all sides. The Rain and Grass had cancelled their alliance with Sound after the cameras broadcast pictures of the pink haired harpy to the world. His forces in those countries were quietly escorted to the borders and dismissed. He heard both nations had joined the Rock, Mist and Cloud in declaring non-aggressive status in the fighting.

His plans to humiliate Naruto before the world had been destroyed and he had been the one embarrassed. He had seen his legendary sword destroyed before him and then the blonde had simply run away. The last advisor to tell him that he had made a mistake was dead. The ones that remained only told him what he wanted to hear. He could not hold back his anger at anyone and few survived his entering his presence.

'This was not how things were supposed to go,' Sasuke thought. 'I was supposed to have had beaten Konoha into submission years ago. Without Naruto they should have folded. I should be leading one of the major villages by now. Now they also have the pink harpy to rally behind.'

He growled deeper as he was forced to finally admit he had made mistakes that he could not blame on anyone else. He had to find a new course of action before everything came tumbling down and his revenge on Konoha was stopped. A message form from one of the minor people in his village gave him a new idea.

* * *

Kakashi called back everyone who was close to Sakura in the past from the front. The woman had stabilized and showed signs of waking soon. The medics had managed to put some weight on her in the two weeks since her recovery from Sound. She was still extremely underweight and lacked any kind of muscle mass but her face had lost the deeply gaunt appearance.

Jade green eyes slowly opened into the brightness. Light spilled down onto her face. She was free at last and she was now in the afterlife. Hands that could barely move shakily lifted up slightly only to fall back down as the light restraints on them prevented any higher movement. She had hoped that she had finally died when the light filtered into her brain but now she realized they had pulled her back once more. Why couldn't those animals just let her die once and for all?

Sakura forced open one eye and noticed the clean sunlight was the light she had seen, not a sign of the afterlife at all. 'That is something new. I haven't seen sunlight since ….' Her thoughts trailed off as the pain it brought back came with the memory. Why did Sasuke torture her like this?

The sound of a voice nearby caught her attention. It was strangely familiar and yet different at the same time. The accents were known to her but she had not heard them in so long now. She forced her eye open once more and turned her head slightly. Flowers were between her and the voice. 'Flowers? Sasuke doesn't allow flowers. What is going on here? Is this some new torture?' she thought.

The second eye opened slowly and joined the first as she tried to focus. 'Those flowers bouquets remind me of the ones that Ino's mom used to make when we were kids. Oh Ino, why did they have to kill you?'

The voice sounded from closer this time. It couldn't be! It sounded like Tsunade's voice. A tear slid from her eye as she realized Sasuke must have put her into a genjutsu again. She had too little chakra to break even the simplest one now. His way of torturing her to make her think she was rescued then after a little bit of hope was gained to break it and leave her wallowing in the darkness once more.

Her thoughts caused her heart to race which in turn set off an alarm on the heart monitor. Voices grew closer and Sakura saw someone she didn't know come into view. "Oh, you're awake! I'll get Tsunade-sama!" the nurse said as she rushed off.

Seconds later, the curtain was pushed back to show a concerned Tsunade looking at her. Sakura cringed back as she did not want to feel the hurt of seeing her teacher once more. She tried raising her bone thin arms in self defense but the padded restraints on her arms prevented it. Sakura whimpered as she closed her eyes.

Tsunade was shocked at the pink haired woman's reaction. She realized something was wrong and called back the first nurse. "Did she react like this to you?"

"No, Tsunade-sama. She just looked at me," the nurse replied.

Tsunade turned back to Sakura and spoke in a soft voice, "Sakura, relax, you're safe now. Uchiha let you go in order to force Naruto into a fight with him."

Sakura just kept her eyes closed and slowly shook her head, "No! Leave me alone Sasuke! Please, let me out of this genjutsu!" she cried out.

Tsunade stepped back when she heard that. A frown crossed her face for a moment before she gestured the nurse Sakura didn't know forward to help the pink haired woman. "Talk to her and calm her down. If she has been tortured in the past with seeing old friends, then you should be more of a comfort than I would right now," Tsunade explained.

The nurse nodded and moved to the scared woman and spoke softly to calm her.

"It's all right, Sakura. If you don't want to see Tsunade right now then she will stay away. Is there someone you would like to come here and see you?" she asked gently.

"Why is he torturing me like this? It's bad enough what he does but why not just let me die? Why keep bringing me back and make me think I am getting rescued to just toss me into that hole again?" Sakura whimpered.

The nurse was on the edge of tears. In her youth she had been a fan girl of Uchiha Sasuke and hearing the broken whimpers of Sakura destroyed the last illusion she harbored about anyone named Uchiha.

* * *

The victories against the first two bunkers were not repeated. An assault on a third was driven back with heavy casualties for the Alliance. Sound forces being ready on their home territory made a huge difference in the fighting. The war had ground to a halt once more with Sound holding in place and slowly pushing back toward their border. The battles were beginning to seem more like old fashioned fights between armies of thousands than by a war between ninja. Neither side was advancing nor retreating with ninja even seen standing on different sides of an open field just recovering from the earlier battles before fighting again.

* * *

So far none of Sakura's friends were allowed to see her. This grated severely on all of them.

Finally, one had enough and walked toward the hospital. Nurses tried to stop him but he brushed them aside. A sole ANBU stood guard outside of the intensive care ward. The ninja walked up to the masked man and informed him of his intention to see Sakura. The ultimatum of move or be moved was not one any would expect from the jonin but the ANBU took it seriously enough. Before the masked operative could defend himself, he was rendered unconscious and gently lowered to the floor. The jonin summoned a nurse to tend to the man.

Sakura heard a soft noise from outside the curtains and some nurses saying "You're not supposed to be in here." She closed her eyes to hide from the tortures. Footsteps on the floor came closer as the curtains were pulled aside. Sakura flinched back as the footsteps came up to the bed and a soft voice said, "Sakura-chan."

The pink haired woman shuddered as she heard the voice and in spite of her self responded, "Lee-kun. Why did he have to torture me with you again?"

"Please Sakura-chan, have enough faith in me to trust your eyes and your heart," Lee said in the same soft voice.

She heard the sound of her right wrist being freed from the restraint holding it. A warm callused hand slid into it to firmly but gently hold her hand. 'It feels so real,' she thought.

"Sakura-chan, I do not know if anything I say can convince you of what is happening. But I know I can let you do something. Open your eyes, please," Lee whispered.

Something in his voice got through to Sakura. The tone of it had a hint of something she had not heard since before Sasuke captured her. A slight begging tone mixed with hope that Sasuke could never quite get right in all of his attempts to torture her mind. Slowly, she opened one eye to see the round eyes and concerned face of Rock Lee at the side of her bed. His jonin uniform looked out of place to her as did the longer hair. But those eyebrows were as big and wild as ever. The only time they had ever been groomed is when she told the man she would never go out with him unless he got them trimmed. When he had shown up an hour later with the eyebrows trimmed it had melted her heart but something about Lee was missing with normal looking eyebrows. She had never asked him to do that for her again.

"Sakura-chan, will you trust me?" Lee whispered as he placed his face close to the pink woman's face.

Sakura could not help but nod as she was afraid the sight of this man would be another torture in the works.

"If you trust me, I want you to hit me. Slap me on the face as hard as you can," Lee said slightly louder.

Sakura shook her head no. This was something new. None of the genjutsu Sasuke had used allowed her to hit anyone she cared about before. Slowly, she lifted her freed hand and lightly tapped Lee on the face.

"Again," he said with more vigor.

Her hand came up once more and again she barely touched him.

"Please, Sakura-chan. Hit me with everything you can muster. I know that is not much right now, but I need for you to believe that you are free. Please, hit me again." He reached over and freed her left arm from its restraint.

Sakura bit her lip. She wanted to believe so badly this was her Lee. But it was just another fake. It had to be. 'Damn you Sasuke,' she thought as she pulled up her arm once more and slapped Lee on the face. The sound of it was clearly audible this time.

"Again, Sakura-chan," Lee urged.

Tears leaked from Sakura's eyes as she swung again and again, slapping Lee harder each time under her hand throbbed with pain and his face had begun to bruise. "WHY!? Why is he still keeping me in this nightmare!?" she yelled out.

"He is not, Sakura-chan," Lee said quietly once more. "You are."

"My hand hurts," Sakura said softly before realizing. "It hurts. I never hurt before in any of the torture sessions Sasuke made me see before." She looked deep into Lee's eyes before looking at the bruised cheek. "Why do this?"

"Because I gladly would face one thousand blows to convince you that you are free. If I cannot do that, I will find something else to convince you. But most of all, because I still love you and I hope you still love me."

Sakura broke down in tears, as she could not hold back anymore. She didn't care anymore if this was some kind of torture attempt or if she really was free at last. She was face to face with her Lee and she would not pass up this opportunity. Her hands slid behind his head and pulled his face down to hers. His lips touched hers gently at first until she couldn't hold back anymore. She kissed with a passion she had not felt in many long years and he responded until she slid her head to one side and buried her face in his neck, her arms holding her tightly to him.

She just held Lee until the tears stopped flowing. "I really am free?" she whispered into his ear.

"Yes, Sakura-chan. At last."

Tsunade stood back at the curtains and slowly slid it closed on the couple. The nurse looked to her for instructions. The former Hokage looked back and spoke. "I need to take care of a couple of things. When he is done in there, get her a little more presentable. She'll like that. I have to go tell Kakashi to go easy on Lee for hitting that ANBU." Then she smiled broadly and shook her head. "I also have to tell people that Wesley and Buttercup just got pushed into second place for best kiss."

The nurse looked shocked for a moment until she got the joke then turned laughing to get back to her duties.

* * *

The pink paint tradition spread further among the Alliance ninja. Forehead protectors or a simple square of cloth were the most common sighting among non Leaf ninja but everyone had been exposed to the idea at least once. Infiltrators were captured much more easily as they stood out for the first hour of two after getting into camps. Sound began to lose battles as their drive to push back the Alliance failed. Another week passed by and another pair of Sound bunkers fell. Losses were heavy on both sides but the Alliance had more troops now. Cloud, Mist and Rock all declared an end of trade with Sound. Rain and Grass quickly followed. There were too many small nations arrayed against Sound and siding with Konoha and Suna for the other powers not to notice. The three major nations would bide their time for the Alliance to break after the war with Sound was over. It had happened before in wars and it would happen again. There was no sense in alienating the majority of the smaller powers all at once.

Kakashi found an appropriate punishment for Lee. He had to be Sakura's new bodyguard for 12 hours a day. Lee smiled like his teenage self for the first time since the war began at that. Tsunade asked Kakashi to wait on the debrief of Sakura for another week so she could adjust a little more to her new freedom. Kakashi agreed as she likely would not have been exposed to vital military secrets.

Naruto summoned Pa and got permission to train in the sage arts while in Konoha. Gamakichi arrived with a barrel of toad oil and Pa's stick to help the blonde. The son of the Boss Toad used a size reduction jutsu that Pa taught him to remain discreet. The sealed scroll room in Naruto's house became a tiny training chamber as Naruto relearned how to draw in nature chakra. Gamakichi enjoyed whacking Naruto a few times but the Toad Sage was up to the task of controlling it after that.

The remains of the Konoha 11 came together after the week requested by Tsunade. It was time to talk to Sakura.

* * *

Next Chapter: Chains

* * *

**End Notes:**  
Not much to say on the delay except life happens. It comes first.  
I really did not go into much detail on Sakura's condition as I am trying to keep the fic at a T level. Safe to say is she was starved and mentally abuse for a good portion of her time in Sasuke's hands.

**Review Notes:  
**Mister Whitey hit Sakura's condition right on the head, WW2 POW with a lot of mental torture added in.

For Lord Martiya, yeah, if it were all of Orochi inside of Sasuke, Konoha would have been dust within 3 months of the war starting. My Orochi influenced Sasuke still has the Uchiha superiority with some of the snake's devious but none of his back up planning.

Naruto was going into the fight at the VotE with several disadvantages already. He was nowhere near his top form. He nearly killed himself days before with a faulty Hiraishin and his issue with the Kyuubi chakra on top of that. Personally, I refuse to let that plot device effect my stories as a way to pull everything out at the last moment. The good guys have to lose at some point and not always pull things out. In the end, they win but not every battle.

I am having the demon chakra act much like radiation poisoning on Naruto now. Limited amounts can be recovered from but too much at once is going to kill him, just like any other mortal. His time with it being sealed up reduced his body's resistance to it.

Posted 5/26/09


	15. The Evils that Men Do

The content of this chapter forced me to raise the rating on this story to M until it is completed. I hope people understand.

**The Evils that Men Do**

Haruno Sakura took a deep breath before beginning. Her first sensei, Kakashi, was now Hokage and her previous sensei, Tsunade, was retired but active once again. They were sitting closest to her right now as she organized her thoughts for the debriefing to come. Lee sat at her side and held her hand firmly. The rest of her remaining friends were in the room but further away. She did not want to go through this more than once and asked if they could be there. She was still deathly thin but her skin was beginning to show some flesh beneath it. She doubted she would be able to resume duty as Konoha's second best medical ninja again but within a year she hoped she could be healthy enough to be a ninja if she desired to be one.

"The day the war began. I am not sure on all of the details involved but this is what I remember," she said as she began.

* * *

"Tsunade-sama, we are having an incident at the Eastern Gate. Uchiha Sasuke is standing there calling out for you!" a chunin called out as he rushed into the office. Shizune and Sakura had both been helping Tsunade with her paperwork today and were shocked by the pronouncement.

Tonton let out a small remorseful sound as Tsunade glared drunken daggers at the chunin. "Oh he is, is he? I should have had that traitorous Uchiha declared a missing-nin the day he left instead of treating him like a victim," the Hokage growled.

Tsunade stood and barely kept herself steady as the effects of too much sake and not enough food had been taking their toll on the old woman. Piles of untouched paperwork lay stacked around the office. Shizune spoke to Tsunade, "Tsunade-sama, maybe it would be best if you sent someone else to deal with this. You have already drunk a good deal of sake today."

Tsunade glared at her senior apprentice and chuckled. "I am a Sannin, Shizune. I can deal with one pipsqueak Uchiha. Get out of my way."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama," Shizune said meekly. She had felt Tsunade's backhand once too often in the past year to go against her master this time. The dark haired woman got out of Tsunade's way with a bow.

Shizune hung her head once Tsunade had left the office. Sakura bit her lip. Things had been getting progressively worse with Tsunade since Naruto had disappeared. It seemed like the only time Tsunade was not drunk lately was after spending time with Hinata and the twins.

* * *

_Tsunade hung her head and tears ran down her face. She had never realized she had been so bad to Shizune those last few months. Naruto stepped up to her and squeezed her shoulder._

* * *

Once Tsunade had left, Shizune quickly began cleaning up the empty bottles and putting a small tray of food on the desk for when her master returned. The only times Tsunade would eat was if she found the plate there thinking she had gotten it herself and forgotten about it. Shizune loved Tsunade too much to abandon her.

Sakura got busy separating unsigned papers and wielding the Hokage's stamp on low rank mission reports that would only get filed. The important items would be put where Tsunade would see them and hopefully act upon them. She hoped that Lee would be back from his mission soon. She needed cuddle time after a day of helping Shizune in the Hokage's office.

Nearly a half hour passed before a single ANBU came running into the office.

"There has been an incident at the gate. Tsunade-sama is being taken to the hospital," the ANBU said in urgent tones.

Sakura turned to head for the hospital when a gurgle sounded behind her. Before she could turn a needle hit the back of her neck. She collapsed almost immediately. 'Poison,' she thought. As her body crumpled, she heard a cut off squeal from Tonton. The last thing her eyes saw before going dark was the head of Shizune lying apart from her body.

* * *

As consciousness returned, Sakura struggled to focus her chakra but found she couldn't. The hard surface she lay upon was under a bright light. She slowly opened her eyes until she could make out the bars on the cage. He body ached in places she did not really expect to but she knew she was in a prison. Her regular clothing was gone and replaced with a simple shirt and gym shorts. 'They even took my underwear,' she grumbled.

Once her clothing situation was noticed, other things began to impact on her consciousness. Her stomach started growling. She found herself very thirsty as well. 'I must have been drugged for days to be this bad off. Where am I then?' she wondered.

She looked around but found no sink or toilet. 'So much for finding a drink. This must just be a holding cell.' She rose on shaky legs to go up to the bars of the cell. The blank wall opposite the room had no indication of where she might be. All she could gather was the masonry was relatively new and not that heavily painted yet.

Sakura touched the bars with her pinkie to test for current but was glad to find they had no charge. She tried to summon her chakra enhanced strength but nothing happened. She lightly shook the bars but they held firm in place. She went back to the bed and sat to wait.

More than an hour passed before she heard a door open nearby. She looked up and heard footsteps approaching. A pair of white masked ninja appeared at the bars of her cage.

One spoke. "Haruno Sakura, you will come with us. Resistance is not advised."

The other touched something to a seal she could not see to the side of the cage and the bars slid to one side. Sakura went with the masked ninja.

The passages were a maze that reminded Sakura of Orochimaru's base years ago. That sent a shiver down her spine. She did not like the possibilities here.

The men led her into a room with a simple table and chairs on either side. "Sit," one of the ninja ordered. Sakura had little choice but to obey.

Minutes later, the last person she expected to see walked through the door, Uchiha Sasuke. She was about to stand when she felt a hand on her shoulder. The pressure was enough to keep her seated.

"What am I doing here, Sasuke?" she growled out.

"Ah, such poor manners for a long lost friend," Sasuke said with a strange smile. Sakura could not place it but she felt she had seen one like that in the past. "No matter. You are in my village. I am going to make you an offer you can't refuse. Renounce the Leaf village join my Sound."

"As if," Sakura sneered.

"You don't seem to understand your position, Sakura. As of now, you are listed as an A class missing nin of Konoha, a traitor charged with the deaths of your one time 'big sister' Shizune and Tsunade's pet pig. You couldn't go back there even if you wanted to." Sasuke chuckled lightly with an eerie "Ku ku ku ku."

Sakura narrowed her eyes at Sasuke. "I killed no one. Some person in an ANBU mask did those and kidnapped me."

"Oh really?" Sasuke said with a smile. "And what of the dozen people who witnessed Haruno Sakura walk out of the office covered in blood after doing the deed? It would be hard to overcome that much evidence."

Sakura tried to stand but the ninja behind her kept her seated. She tried one more but it was like trying to move a mountain.

"Join me, Sakura." Sasuke crooned. "You can expand your research beyond simply healing wounds. You can have access to everything that Orochimaru and Kabuto discovered about the body. You could find cures for diseases and conditions no one dares to find. No one could stop you. You could be greater than even Tsunade as a healer. Tell me yes and all of that could be yours."

Sakura would be lying if she said she was not tempted. However, the memory of Shizune's head on the floor of Tsunade's office reminded her exactly what she would be making a deal with.

Sakura closed her eyes. "Haruno Sakura, ninja of Konohakagure no Sato, rank jonin," was her reply.

"So, that is how you wish it to be. I can be patient, Sakura. After all, I have already won this little game," Sasuke said in a tight voice. He tossed a ninja headband onto the table. The black cloth was stiff with old dried blood but the Konoha Leaf was plain to see. "There will be no blonde hero coming to the rescue for Konoha this time."

"Naruto," Sakura whispered.

"Lock her up. See that her physical needs are dealt with but other than that, no visitors," Sasuke commanded.

Sasuke picked up the headband and left the room.

The guards waited for over a minute before leading Sakura out to a new cell. This one was a ten foot by six foot room with a cot that folded out from the wall, a sink and a toilet. Once the guards left, Sakura sat and thought about what she could do next.

* * *

Weeks passed by. Once each week she was taken to the room and the offer was repeated. All she ever said to Sasuke was "Haruno Sakura, ninja of Konohakagure no Sato, rank jonin." She said nothing else to Sasuke. Eventually Sasuke stopped coming.

She had lost track of the time she had been in this cell. The lights never went off and the food came at random times. Her only means of telling how long she had been there came after six months had passed. Her birth control implant had ended and her cycles started back up.

True to the orders of their leader, her guards allowed her to take care of all of her physical needs except exercise. All she had was the small floor space of her cell. Her chakra had trickled back slightly but never enough to use. Something in the construction of the building was suppressing any extra beyond what was needed to live.

After about a year of captivity, the place where Sakura was held changed. The new cell was still in the same labyrinth but she knew it was a different location. She could hear other people nearby but never saw any. Sakura began to experience blackouts and strange nightmares. Images of intimate torture flashed through her dreams at night. She noticed after several blackouts that her pelvis hurt. She found no evidence of rape or sexual activity on herself but still the pains kept occurring.

Her first clue something had happened was when her cycle was late. She counted and recounted but she still came up late. She hoped it was just a one time miss. It had happened before. More time passed and she felt the first pangs of morning sickness. She could not deny it now. She was pregnant. Sasuke was using her as a breeder and had her inseminated like she was cattle. She asked the guard to send a message to Sasuke.

She found herself in the same room she had always seen Sasuke in but this time was different. She was nervous and not in the least defiant. Sasuke strode in as if he owned the place, because he did. He looked at Sakura haughtily and waited for her to say something.

"What did you do to me, Sasuke?" she asked in a quiet voice.

Sasuke just smirked and chuckled in his Orochimaru-like manner. "I just gave you what you wanted ever since you were ten years old Sakura. You were one of those little fan girls who wanted to help me so now I am granting your fondest wish. You get to help resurrect the Uchiha clan," Sasuke said while smiling.

"Why?" Sakura asked in a small voice.

"Because I can," was all Sasuke said before turning to leave.

"Monster," Sakura said quietly.

That stopped Sasuke. "Oh, a monster am I? Well, since I am going to be a monster in your mind, consider this. Your precious village is dying. My men have confirmed the deaths and crippling of many of your friends. Ino and Choji are dead. TenTen crippled and Neji blinded. The pair of morons, the ones you flirted with sometimes, who carried papers for you and Shizune are dead. Although, there is one thing that is a benefit in all of this. Your precious Lee gave up on that spandex outfit of his and stopped yelling about youth."

"I won't have this baby, Sasuke," Sakura threatened.

"Sakura, if the baby dies, your mother and younger sister in Konoha will die. I can have my agents do that with no trouble at all. In two days I can have a current photo of them for you to see if you doubt me."

Sakura paled at Sasuke's threat. "Leave them alone!" she cried out. "They're not even ninja!"

"Then you had better take good care of my child, Sakura. They are depending on you," Sasuke said as he left with no further word.

* * *

Something in Sakura broke that day. She just would sit in her cell and cry. She would do the things she was ordered to but nothing more. She was taken to the doctor and the health of the baby insured. But no one helped her spirit. The guards and doctors were neither kind nor cruel. She was just something making their leader's child.

Sakura looked at her bloated stomach. Her worry increased as each moment passed. She already knew she was going to have a daughter. That had left Sasuke unhappy. He had wanted strong Uchiha sons. The doctors had said she was due at any time. They were waiting for the first signs of labor to begin. Small pains had alerted them to the impending birth. Sakura was taken to an operating room and the doctors prepared to deliver the baby by caesarian birth. There would be no chances taken on a potential scion of the Uchiha.

Sakura was barely aware when the baby was delivered. All she managed to see was the sheet over her midsection and the local anesthetic kept her from feeling anything. The strong cries of the baby girl sounded out in the room. The cries suddenly cut off. Sakura tried to lever herself up to see but failed. The nurse attending looked down and then sadly at Sakura.

"What? What's wrong with her?" Sakura cried out. Then she saw Sasuke come out into view with a look of anger on his face. "What happened?" Sakura cried out once more.

"Her hair was pink," was all Sasuke said as he left. "There will be no Uchiha with pink hair."

Sakura realized this man was not the Sasuke she had known in her youth. Even he was not capable of such cruelty. The mind and soul might have been once but they were both corrupted past recognition by the influence of Orochimaru. Some part of the monster remained within him and had consumed Uchiha Sasuke.

* * *

_Killing intent flooded the room. Nearly every ninja was exuding it. Lee squeezed Sakura's hand tightly. They all understood now why Sakura only wanted to do this once. The frail woman continued in a hoarse voice._

* * *

Sakura recovered physically but she had no desire to live after that. The doctors sent her back to her original cell.

Guards put food in front of her. It sat untouched.

She drank nothing.

She did nothing.

After several days, she was sitting in her cell and heard a voice.

"How the mighty apprentice to Tsunade has fallen," said Sasuke. "Going to curl up and die now are you?"

Sakura felt something else inside of her snap. She lunged at the voice but was stopped by the bars. Her hands stretched through the metal but still came up inches short of her goal. "Damn you, Orochimaru!" she yelled.

He only laughed at her.

Sakura's only response then was to spit into Uchiha's face.

Enraged at the act, Uchiha's eyes changed. The dark black iris turned red with three black tome marks then shifted once more into a six pointed star of his Mangekyo Sharingan. Sakura pulled back as his genjutsu consumed her.

* * *

Sakura woke screaming and sat up in her bed. She looked around the brightly lit room. She pushed the bed sheets aside as she crawled out of the bed. She pulled at her nightgown until she realized something was wrong. She was not alone in the room. The person sitting up in the bed was looking at her with concern.

"Sakura-chan, what is wrong my wife?" Lee said.

"Lee? But I was just in Sasuke's prison? He was ... this has to be a genjutsu," she muttered.

"Sakura-chan, we rescued you from that place years ago. Have you forgotten again?" Lee asked.

"Rescued? What do you mean rescued?" Sakura said warily.

"Look in the mirror, Sakura-chan," Lee said quietly.

Sakura turned to look in the mirror Lee had pointed to. Her reflection was of a woman in her late thirties. The minor wrinkles and first signs of gray hair were apparent in the glass.

"But, I was just in a Sound prison," she said as she touched her face.

Lee came up behind her and hugged her. "The time there did some damage, my love. Sometimes you have temporary memory loss. Before she died Tsunade-sama did what she could for you but it keeps coming back. The memories will return soon enough. Sadly, even the bad ones."

The sound of crying caught her attention. 'A child?' she wondered. The door to the bedroom flew open and a girl about five years old ran in pursued by a boy of about ten. "Momma, help!" cried the girl who ran and grabbed her leg.

Lee chuckled until he saw the confusion in Sakura's face. "Brandon, Peach, enough. Momma is having one of her episodes right now and needs to rest. Remember what we talked about when this happens."

"Sorry, Mom," said the boy. 'Brandon,' thought Sakura.

"Sorry, Momma," said Peach. The girl hugged her leg then let go and looked contrite.

Lee ushered the children out of the bedroom and smiled back at Sakura. "I'll get them ready. Just relax and everything will be fine, Sakura-chan."

Sakura nodded and could not help but feel a wrongness about her that was fading quickly. She could hear the voices in the kitchen. She wanted this to be real so badly. Maybe it was right and she was having memory problems. She wished it was that. All she could do was go along with it and see. She tried calling up chakra to release any genjutsu but even that did nothing. Not even a flicker of change from her most powerful release technique.

Her stomach growled. She turned and left the bedroom to see what was going on in the kitchen.

The day passed slowly as she fumbled around the house. Lee headed off to teach taijutsu at the Academy. Sakura was retired now and a full time mother so she did not have to leave. The kids helped her with things around the house and Peach stayed clingy but she managed to not be in the way.

Day followed day as Sakura adjusted to her new life. A routine developed for each day. She found herself beginning to enjoy things. She saw other people she knew with children but for some reason never managed to meet up with them.

Weeks passed. They turned into months and seasons changed.

Peach was sick today. Sakura fretted greatly over the sweating child. She needed to take the girl to the hospital. She picked up the girl and headed for the door. She dodged to avoid a toy and tripped over the couch. She fell with a crash and felt a sharp pain in her forehead where it struck the couch.

The world spun and shattered around her.

* * *

She found herself in a dark room with the only source of light a small window in a heavy iron doorway. She panicked and looked around for Peach. She called out for the child. A chuckled sounded from behind the door.

"Oh, you're back with us. So, how was your little trip into your perfect world, Sakura?" the voice of Sasuke carried into the dark room.

Sakura pulled back whimpering, "No, it was real, wasn't it? Lee, Brandon, Peach?"

"Ku Ku Ku," came the chuckle. "Not a one. Well Lee is real as he has not been killed by my men yet. But those others? All figments of your imagination. That genjutsu had you trapped for a good six months."

She fell to her knees and wept.

* * *

Darkness, each day was darkness with a few flashes of light from the small window. Food was brought daily but it was never enough to satisfy her hunger. She realized she had eaten better when she was trapped in the genjutsu. Now that she was aware of the real world again, she was given less. Some days would pass with nothing. Others she was given enough to fill her stomach. It depended on the whims of Uchiha. No matter what she still became thinner and thinner. She refused to look at him when his face appeared in the window.

One time she had looked. She was caught in Uchiha's 'perfect world' genjutsu again for a few months again before she got up the nerve to simply smash her head against the wall. It was not a perfect world after all. The pain she felt as losing the people she had come to care about was devastating. The third time he caught her in it only lasted mere moments before she dispelled it. She knew she was broken but even so she refused to just lie down and die. She would hold on.

It was all she could do.

* * *

The heavy door opened. Sakura pulled back from the light as a hand took hold of her hair and sawed off a large chunk from one side. The person who did it was not gentle and pushed her to the side. The man left the door open in contempt. She could not even stand to make it to the open doorway. She could only move in slow motion. But getting there was beyond her strength. She lay down and just waited for the end. Darkness fell once more.

* * *

Light. Warm bright sunlight. Was she dead? She could feel motion. Her eyes cracked open. She saw Tsunade above her. No, not Tsunade. Another one of Uchiha's genjutsu. She was tired now. She slept once more. when she awoke she felt stonger than she had in a long time but Tsunade was still there. She could not even resist this time. She just refused to look at her former master and teacher. She couldn't break free but she could at least not care about the phantoms Uchiha tortured her with. Let the person she didn't recognize help her. No more pain. No more caring. She couldn't take anymore. She would let things end.

Then Lee was there. She didn't have to let go this time. He had her hurt him and herself to see that he was indeed real. She was free.

* * *

Her friends gathered around her as she finished her tale. The girls hugged her and the men barely kept their tempers under control. This was beyond what any reasonable person could take. They all now agreed with Naruto. Nothing of Uchiha could be allowed to remain because everything that Sasuke had once been was gone. The Uchiha and all of his works must end. He would not be allowed to surrender. His minions could give up but the monster must die.

* * *

Next Chapter: The Sacrifice of the Kyuubi

* * *

**End Notes**:  
A little shorter than I have been writing but adding more to this would not improve it at this point. Also a much darker chapter than I have ever written in fan fiction before. I knew what I wanted out of it but it was still difficult to do and make it not sound overly contrived. The end of the story is near but there are a few more sacrifices (and chapters) to go.

**Review Notes**:  
Don't hate me for the baby.

OroSasuke had not really done any public atrocities so people of the Elemental Countries were more accepting of Sound than they would have been otherwise since OroSasuke played by the generally accepted rules in public.

I have not read anything in the Naruto wiki that says anything about Sage chakra purifying the Kyuubi chakra. If anything else, it would have to be balanced with that as well as Naruto's own chakra such as in the manga scene with his eyes showing both attributes.

.


	16. Sacrifice of the Kyuubi

**The Sacrifice of the Kyuubi**

* * *

The meeting where Sakura recounted her ordeal broke up. Every person there immediately checked on his or her loved ones. Naruto stood watching his own children sleep deep long the night before returning to bed. He hugged Hinata tightly as they managed to get to sleep. As he slept, Naruto felt a tug in his mind.

"**It took you long enough to sleep, human**," the Kyuubi spoke in his rumbling voice. "**I would have words with you.**"

"What do you want Kitsune? I was having enough trouble sleeping after what I heard what happened," Naruto said with an edge to his voice.

"**The pink haired one. Her story troubles you. It makes you wish to destroy the one called Sasuke; the one that the would-be immortal Orochimaru infected with his tainted soul**," the Kyuubi asked in a low voice.

"Yes," growled Naruto.

"**Good. For that purpose, I would aid you**," the fox shaped demon rumbled.

"Why? What is in it for you, Kitsune?" Naruto said warily.

"**I get the pleasure of his death. His actions have offended me**."

Naruto was shocked by that admission. "You're a demon, Kitsune. Surely you have done worse than that in your existence," he asked.

The Kyuubi's killer intent towards Naruto became so heavy that he even gasped in the real world.

"**Do not judge me by your standards mortal. You know nothing of demons and even less of the tailed beasts. We have our own part to play in the scheme of things. There is more to the worlds than your puny human mind knows. You are like ants that see the grandeur of your anthill and think it the entire universe. This Orochimaru has offended many others as he unbalances things**."

"So why doesn't one of these 'others' do something about it?" Naruto asked puzzled.

"**Would you use your Rasenshuriken to shoo a fly off your face, human?**"

"No."

"**Same principle.**"

"Oh."

Naruto paused before speaking again. "I have to know why you really want to help and what you really get out of this, Kitsune or no deal."

The Kyuubi growled. As a kitsune, he hated to speak a plain fact that could be used against him later. But this time he had little choice. "**He offended me. He killed one of his own newborn progeny. That is something even a demon would not do. We might plot and conspire against our own kind of demon. We could kill the newborn spawn of another, even kill adults we have sired if it suits our needs, but we never kill a pup of our flesh and would defend one to the death.**"

"Wait, you would defend a baby of yours to the death but a full grown one you would kill?" Naruto asked in wonder.

"**Of course. A demon always defends their mate and pups. When they are grown, they are not pups anymore and no longer my concern. They either live or die on their own merit. The greatest honor a demon can have is to be thrown down by their own progeny while still in their prime**," the Kyuubi said with a grin.

"**But back to the matter, you came to me and bargained in good faith when you had the option not to. I am bound by honor to do the same in return. The Death god was cheated by Orochimaru years ago and he wants the rest of his prize. Aiding in delivering the escapee would be something in my favor. So I struck a bargain. If I can deliver the soul of Orochimaru to the Shinigami, I will only be bound for an age and still be the Kyuubi afterwards. Or I can do nothing and be stripped of my status and die along with you upon your inevitable death.**"

Naruto nodded as he understood that part of things. "So how do you deliver the soul of Orochimaru?"

"**Oh, that part is simple. You engage the Uchiha in single combat once more and release my seal willingly. That will bring the Shiginami to the battlefield and I will do the rest. The soul still sleeps within the Uchiha. Once I destroy the Uchiha, I will go with the Shiginami and both of the mortal souls."**

"How do I know you will not simply turn on me?" Naruto asked.

"**Honestly, you don't. Given the option, I would kill you as soon as I saw you. But to ease you mind, we are still bound together. Only the Death god can separate us now. He will do so once I deliver the souls. Once separated, I will serve my time and be freed afterwards. You still have pups to defend and the Death god does not want you yet, so you can live on."**

"What happens if you cannot deliver the souls?"

"**We die**," the Kyuubi no Yoko said with a chuckle.

* * *

"ARE YOU FRAKING INSANE!" yelled Tsunade.

"I didn't say I was going to do it yet. I said it was an option that was made available," Naruto replied calmly.

"Naruto, do you honestly think that the Kyuubi will keep his word?" Kakashi asked.

"He wants to live, Kakashi. This is the only chance he has at this point. If I release the seal, his chakra will kill me within five minutes and we both die. There is nothing he can do to stop that," Naruto said.

"You're willing to die for this?" Tsunade asked.

"Just another day as a ninja, Baa-chan," Naruto finally broke out in his trademark grin.

Tsunade was tempted to smack Naruto for even suggesting what the demon had proposed but even she could see the benefits of the plan.

Naruto turned serious once more. "I know this is a risk. But for once, I am willing to trust the Kitsune on this one."

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke could not believe the gall and stupidity of the blonde idiot. On the very medium Sasuke had planned on insuring his triumph was the picture of Naruto proclaiming his challenge.

'_I know this will get to Uchiha-teme one way or another, but I want it to be known to the world. I challenge you to a battle. Not a duel, a battle. All out no holds barred battle to the death in our favorite spot. Two men enter, one man leaves. Come on Uke-chan, you know you want it.'_

Growling, Sasuke pulled his fist from the broken television screen. "Fine, if he is in such a hurry to die, I will gladly kill him."

One of his messengers ran in with a note for Sasuke. '_All agents are in place and waiting for the command to proceed._' Sasuke chuckled; a deep Orochimaru-like laugh that chilled the messenger to the core.

* * *

Once more, Naruto stood on the stone head of the First Hokage at the Valley of the End. It struck him as strange that this place seemed fated to be a battleground. Then he laughed at himself for thinking of fate as memories of Neji and his Chunin Exam battle half a lifetime ago.

He looked off to the east. The mountains with the home of Kama lay there in the small country between Fire and Lightning. He knew that a part of him would always call that forge home but he had another one now.

He looked south in the direction of Konoha. He idly wondered if he would see that home again. It was possible that he would still die here today in spite of the Kitsune's assurance otherwise. Hinata and the children pulled at his heart. The past few months had been some of the happiest in his memory. He turned back to the other statue and waited in silence.

"Yo, Blondie. You shouldn't look so down. You look just wrong wearing a frown," rhymed the bulky form of Killerbee as he walked out of the trees nearby.

Naruto looked slightly shocked. "You are the last person I expected to see here today," he replied honestly.

Bee looked serious and focused as he hopped up to stand next to Naruto before speaking in a quiet voice. "I didn't expect to be here today. But my buddy told me something was happening here and I would not want to miss it. Something big but he didn't tell me what it was. So, I came."

Naruto nodded. Things like that were beyond his own senses since he refused to bond with the Kitsune but jinchuuriki had a glimmer of higher things due to the nature of the bijou. The blonde had not put much thought into how exactly the Kitsune had managed to deal with the Death God but he sensed it was not lying. A kitsune could twist the truth to suit itself but one thing it could not do was lie outright.

"Well, you get a ringside seat for something special," Naruto said with a smirk. "One way or another, after today you will be the last of your kind."

Bee just raised an eyebrow but said nothing more. Finally the large rapper nodded. "I guess this will be a day to see, the main witness is the Killerbee. The Uchiha is about to arrive, who will win I don't know which. But for the sake of the world, make him your …"

"Uchiha," Naruto said in a growling voice as Sasuke appeared on the stone head of his ancestor.

"Naruto," Sasuke replied in a cold tone. "Not going to run away this time I hope? You brought help I see. I thought he was still hiding from the beating I gave him a decade ago."

Bee chuckled, "Think what you want Uchiha. I walked away from that fight and you thinking you won suited my needs. Aight?"

Naruto looked at Killerbee and nodded, "I like the support but this is a private fight. I would appreciate it that you remain neutral."

Killerbee nodded and jumped off the statue before running to a spot on the cliffs nearby to watch.

Naruto just stood there staring at Sasuke with hate in his eyes.

"What's wrong, Loser? You seem to be trying to glare a hole through me. Is there something bugging you?" Sasuke taunted with his small smirk.

"How can you do such things, Uchiha? You are not the Sasuke I knew as a boy. All the things you have done have only proved that you are not even human anymore."

"Hn. I figured you would want to air things first. Well, I do what I need to do for my revenge."

"WHAT REVENGE? Itachi is dead! All the people involved in the death of your clan are DEAD! There is no need for revenge, Uchiha. You have had it already."

"You wouldn't understand, Naruto. I suffered and Konoha still stands to mock my suffering. It has to be destroyed."

"Suffering? You were practically a prince in that village! You could have had a wife and a dozen mistresses and none of them would have complained! You were loved by those people until you tossed them away like trash. You would have had a good life if you only chose to have one. Yes, your family was killed but you refused to move past it. You're still the same 8 yr. old boy crying for his family and thinking of foolish vengeance. You already have it and still it's not enough for you."

Sasuke growled now as his own anger rose. "My vengeance is not foolish. They allowed it to happen. They have to pay. My Sound will raze Konoha to the ground. I had given them time to grovel before me and beg for their worthless lives but no more. No matter what happens here today, my revenge will be complete. Konoha will fall. Today. And you will not be there to grieve over the bodies of your children, Naruto."

Sasuke pointed behind Naruto now. The blonde looked back to see pillars of smoke now rising in the distance. "No," he whispered.

"**Destroy him, boy."**

'_For once I agree with you, Kitsune'_

Naruto turned back to Sasuke who had his smirk in place. Naruto attacked with a roar.

* * *

(A half hour earlier)

The morning light spread over the sleeping face of Konoha. People were just beginning their day. Parents were waking their children for school. Ninja were training in the coolness of the morning before what was predicted to be a warmer than normal day.

Kakashi stood in the Hokage Tower looking out the window. 'Naruto will be facing the Uchiha soon. The Sound has been very quiet of late. Today is going to change that. The entire war hinges on what happens up in the Valley.' He happened to notice something on the wall in the distance. A person in gray stood there. 'None of the guards wear that color' "ANBU!" he called out just as the building shuddered. He leaped out of the window as the Tower buckled and collapsed behind him.

In a dozen places, the walls of Konoha were breached by enormous explosions as Sound ninja boiled up from hidden passages in and around Konoha. They began killing every person in sight.

Kakashi landed and looked back at the remains of the Tower behind him. 'It had to be Root. They had decades under Danzo to make preparations for anything. Now they have opened the way for the destruction of Konoha.

It only took a look around to determine what needed to be done. 'Most of our forces are in the field. The bulk of the remaining ones were at the walls. This is going to be bloody hand to hand fighting with a lot of civilian casualties.' A team of ANBU landed beside him.

Kakashi pulled off the ceremonial robe of the Hokage to be able to fight. Wounded ninja began pulling themselves out of the Tower wreckage only to be attacked by Sound troops. A pair of ANBU appeared and flanked Kakashi while a third handed the white haired leader his sword before pulling out a kunai for herself. They ran to battle the invaders.

Minutes later, the Sound ninja in the area around the Tower were dead and Kakashi could focus on the larger picture.

* * *

Hinata had just finished getting dressed for her morning exercise. Her mastery of the Gentle Fist still could not match her father or sister but she still ranked third in the Hyuuga overall. Neji could beat her just under half the time in sparring in spite of his having a single eye and no longer being able to see the tenketsu. This did not bother her at all. They were her family.

Hizashi and Kushina were waiting outside already as she emerged. Today was her day to spar with the children. Hizashi would be as skilled as Neji one day. He truly was a Hyuuga but he had Naruto's energy and will to succeed. She or Hiashi would begin showing him more advanced forms soon. Kushina had begun studying under Tsunade and had become a cute blonde shadow to her 'grandmother'. Her sunny disposition had endeared her to most of the hospital staff in a matter of weeks. Her byakugan along with her perfect memory allowed her to learn medical jutsu at a rate that scared most people. Her skill in under a month already matched that of a medic trained for a year.

Safe to say, Hinata was proud of both of her children. Her hand rubbed her stomach. She would need to see Tsunade if she was another day late. Naruto would be thrilled to have a child he could help raise from birth.

Thunder rumbled in the clear sky of the morning and Hinata looked around. "Byakugan', she thought as her bloodline activated. Her vision expanded outward for nearly a mile in all directions. Pride would not enter into it but she knew she was the reason why her children had been so gifted in their own advanced version of the Hyuuga bloodline. When she pushed it that far; her own could not pick out the finest details. But she could see further in all directions than any Hyuuga in history when it was active.

The wall was breached in several places she could see. Unknown ninja were emerging from shielded tunnels into the open. She flinched as she saw dozens of civilians dying in the first few seconds. She shifted her focus in one direction to extend her sight out to six miles then slowly turned in a circle. 'The clan compounds are not infiltrated but the civilian areas are all under heavy attack,' she realized.

"Kushina, Hizashi, we are going to your Grandfather's house. Head for there immediately and do not stop until you are with him. I will get the staff from the house and follow. Go!" she commanded. Neither child was inclined to disobey when they heard her tone. She sounded like their Grandfather when he was angry at someone. The children ran off at full speed for the wall gate connecting their home to the Hyuuga compound.

Hinata kept her bloodline active as she split her attention on the running children and finding the three person house staff. The cook and the maid were inside but the groundskeeper was far from the building. He was holding a shovel and looking around as a pair of Sound ninja attacked him. The man fell swiftly but injured one of his attackers in return.

The children were already past the lone gate guard and into the main compound when Hinata emerged with the remaining staff. A dozen sound ninja were already closing in on the house. She did not have time for her weapons so she took the initiative and attacked. The cook and maid ducked back into the house.

Her first strike took her attackers by surprise. She struck without hesitation and the man died in a split second. She turned to block the next one before striking his temple and killing him. The ninja formed a circle around her out of her reach. Apparently they knew enough about Hyuuga Gentle Fist to remain out of reach.

Kunai and shuriken flew at her. She spun in the Kaiten to deflect them but she could do little more as the circle moved with her. If she advanced, they would retreat while the far side would advance. They seemed intent on wearing her down more than outright killing her.

The cook and maid both stormed out of the house wielding the ceremonial but functional naginata kept just inside the door. They impaled the ninja in front of them and gave Hinata the distraction she needed to engage the rest. They fell quickly under her attacks.

"Thank you for the help," Hinata said to the pair before leading them off toward the Hyuuga compound.

Hinata led her house staff to the main complex of the Hyuuga. Her father stood near the doorway of the main building with the children at his side. A platoon of Sound ninja were trying to break into the grounds but a counterattack from Neji and Tenten out of the forge broke the assault. Hiashi was puzzled by their appearance from the building but then barely kept a smile hidden when he realized that Neji was wearing Tenten's shirt and Tenten was wearing Neji's.

* * *

At the hospital, Sound ninja tried to place explosive charges at the sides of the building. A shout from the roof and the ninja looked up to see, Tsunade surrounded by smoke. Slugs lined the eaves of the roof and spit acid at the charges. The main entrance door then opened to reveal an angry Lee.

"You Sound ninja have picked a bad day in which to attack my home. My Sakura-chan still rests within these walls healing. The crimes inflicted upon her have made me … angry," the round eyes of Lee narrowed as he flooded his system with chakra from the Gates. He then moved faster than they could follow. Moments later the entire force detailed to destroy the hospital fell dead their heads separated from their shoulders.

* * *

All around Konoha, the civilians retreated into their homes. This had become a common practice during the terror attacks that had plagued Konoha since the war began. But for the first time, the earlier terror attacks on the village worked against the Sound. People had become more paranoid about just being outside. They had learned escape routes and how to react to danger in a few seconds.

Over the years, most of the rebuilt civilian homes had become more heavily constructed and defendable. Oak and brick had replaced bamboo and paper as the preferred building materials. Sound forces found not a cowering populace in fragile homes but well defended civilian population in a series of miniature fortresses. The people caught outside fell but the homes withstood assault until the Konoha ninja clans could respond to the aid of their fellow villagers.

The Second Invasion of Konoha turned into the Konoha Slaughter. A single man in the Sound army that attacked Konoha that day lived to report back to Oto.

* * *

Naruto roared in anger and attacked Sasuke. The Uchiha calmly activated his bloodline and ready the attack. His parry was ready before Naruto had finished his jump to Madara's stone head. Naruto stumbled but followed up with a strong taijutsu attack.

The blonde had learned his lessons well from Guy. His attack was crisp clean and powerful. But nothing in it was able to get past Sasuke's defense with an active Sharingan to guide him. The fight worked its way down the shoreline then up the cliff. The damage from their first fight here thirteen years before had softened but still stood out plainly.

Up until this point, Sasuke had only dodged blocked or parried all of Naruto's attacks. Now the Uchiha attacked in reply. Naruto was forced to react and defend himself now. Fortunately for Naruto, the Sharingan did not help in attack as much as it had in defense. The blonde began absorbing punishing blows to the chest and stomach. His arms quickly began to bruise as Sasuke pressed his advantage.

"Surely this is not all you have, Loser?" Sasuke taunted. "I had a harder time the last time we fought here against you."

Naruto knew that Sasuke was right. He jumped back and cast a wind jutsu at Sasuke to prevent the Uchiha from using a fire jutsu on the blonde. A few moments to calm himself was all Naruto needed. His hands slid down to his thigh holsters and pulled out a number of special kunai. He flung them at Sasuke who only stood there.

"Chidori Current," he said as lightning flashed out and melted the kunai. "Did you really think I would allow you to use that jutsu around me?"

"Well, it seemed like a good idea. It worked last time we met," Naruto panted out.

"To run away from your death, Loser. Not this time," Sasuke growled out.

Sasuke attacked once more but this time he could not get a solid hit on Naruto. 'It's like a whole different fight now,' he thought. 'When he is under control, his speed and skill is much greater than when he is upset. I need to get in his head once more.'

"You have not said a word about my treatment of your 'Sakura-chan' yet Loser. You too busy with your Hyuuga that she means nothing to you anymore?" Sasuke taunted.

Naruto growled slightly but maintained his focus. His years as Ken had taught him patience and self control. It was put to the test now but he managed to keep his defense in place.

"Only a poor excuse for a man would settle for making women get pregnant that way, Uchiha. What's wrong, can't get a woman to put up with you? When you finished, would they ask if you were in yet?" Naruto taunted back.

The pair fought up and down the Valley until they found themselves in a very familiar spot. The same one they had been in their first battle. Naruto pulled one hand back and formed a Rasengan and it quickly enlarged to a Big Ball Rasengan with no aid from clones.

Sasuke smirked. "So, you want to try that tired old trick? Fine."

Sasuke pulled both hands back and a Chidori formed in each hand. "Let's see you survive this one, Loser."

'It's time, Kitsune.' Naruto thought. In his mind he imagined himself ripping off the seal holding the Kyuubi in the cage the Death God had sealed it in. He felt the nigh infinite chakra press at the last bit of the seal in place and he only needed to dispel that.

The pair jumped up to slam their attacks into one another when Naruto grinned and made a hand sign with his free hand. "Shiki Fuin: Release."

Sasuke's eyes went wide as a claw of red chakra exploded out of Naruto's stomach. The blonde was pushed back hard into the wall of the canyon as the chakra limb formed and grew. Claws and bones solidified out of the chakra as the leg kept appearing. Sasuke was pushed back as well as the Kyuubi's chakra flooded the area.

Sasuke skidded back hundreds of yards in the grip of the now red furred claws. He was held down flat against the ground by the now physical forelimb of the Kyuubi. The body of the Kyuubi no Yoko formed behind around the end of the leg. It leered down at the man held under its clawed hand.

'This is bad,' Sasuke thought as he activated his Sharingan eyes. He was worried but he knew he had suppressed this creature in Naruto's mind once and he could control it once more. The Sharingan whirled as he focused his will at the eyes of the demon.

The Kyuubi just grinned wider as the Uchiha tried to control it. The fleeting moment of worry Naruto had over that possibility faded along with his consciousness as the strain on his body was too great for him.

"**Foolish mortal. You cannot control me. The very thing that would have condemned me has protected me from your accursed eyes. I am currently neither fully demon any longer not truly mortal. To regain what is mine will be accomplished with just a simple act."**

Then the demon pressed his clawed hand two feet down into the ground underneath it. The body of Uchiha Sasuke was flattened beneath it and only his head remained; the eyes fading from the red of the active Sharingan to the black of his normal ones.

The corpselike form of the Death God appeared over the body. With an almost sinister glee, it reached into the corpse and yanked out the squirming souls of Sasuke and Orochimaru.

"**At Last,"** it intoned in a chilling voice that only Killerbee heard.

"I have delivered the souls as promised. Is our bargain fulfilled?" the Kyuubi asked.

The Death God only nodded in silence. It pulled the knife from it's teeth and stabbed it into the Kyuubi's chest. Blue chakra poured out of the wound and it flowed back into the still form of Naruto.

Naruto gasped out as he began breathing deeply once more. He cracked open an eye as the Death God and the Kyuubi were fading from view. The kitsune decided it needed to get in one last taunt.

"**I never liked you boy, but you were entertaining. You would have made a good kitsune, Uzumaki Naruto. If we meet again, I will devour you."**

The god and demon finally faded from view as Naruto passed out once more.

* * *

Naruto sat up on the bricks in front of the former cage of the Kyuubi to see a blonde haired man smiling at him. The Fourth Hokage nodded and spoke.

"I only have a few minutes before I follow after them Naruto. The Death God still owns my soul and I must go as well." Minato pointed behind him to the gates that once held the Kyuubi.

"In there is all the mixed chakra that was removed from the Kyuubi to separate the pair of you. It is yours with a bit of it's mixed in. In all, there is the equivalent to one of its tails. Use it as you see fit but know that once it is gone, it will not be replaced. After that you will have the chakra capacity of three normal Kages. I think that might be enough, even for you."

Naruto stood and looked at his father. "Dad, I …" He couldn't say anything else as he couldn't find the words.

Minato broke up the silence by stepping up and hugging Naruto tightly. "I am proud of you, my son."

* * *

Naruto felt tears run down his face as he returned the hug until Minato faded and he was left holding air.

Naruto opened his eyes in reality to find tears on his face once more. Once Naruto calmed down he turned to the south and looked at the rising smoke. It had thinned considerably so he knew that the fires had been put out which meant that Konoha had won that battle.

He sat up to see Killerbee walking up carrying the head of Sasuke. The sightless eyes stared straight ahead. The rapper handed it to Naruto who held it by the hair to avoid getting his hands bloody. The need to say anything rose up in him.

"Alas, poor Sasuke. I knew him, Bee. A teme of infinite harrumphs," the blonde said with a wry grin.

Killerbee stood in shock for a moment before bursting out into a roar of laughter. Naruto soon followed and for long minutes the pair did nothing more.

* * *

Next Chapter: Fall of the Sound Village

* * *

**End Notes:**  
Readers might notice Naruto's last line as being modified from Shakepeare, Hamlet Act 5, Scene 1.

The 'frak' of course is from Battlestar Galactica.

The 'two men enter, one man leaves' I got from 'Mad Max: Beyond Thundercome'


	17. The End of Sound

**Fall of the Sound Village**

_Naruto opened his eyes in reality to find tears on his face once more. Once Naruto calmed down he turned to the south and looked at the rising smoke. It had thinned considerably so he knew that the fires had been put out which meant that Konoha had won that battle._

_He sat up to see Killerbee walking up carrying the head of Sasuke. The sightless eyes stared straight ahead. The rapper handed it to Naruto who held it by the hair to avoid getting his hands bloody. The need to say anything rose up in him._

"_Alas, poor Sasuke. I knew him, Bee. A teme of infinite harrumphs," the blonde said with a wry grin._

_Killerbee stood in shock for a moment before bursting out into a roar of laughter. Naruto soon followed and for long minutes the pair did nothing more._

* * *

Naruto made his way home to Konoha carrying the head of Uchiha Sasuke. It was not something he really wanted to do but he did it anyway. He let the ANBU that had come to the Valley to clean up the rest of the crushed body. He was surprised however when he got tired halfway to the village. It seems he would need to adjust to new circumstances once more. He idly scratched at an itch on his face but paid it no mind.

He stopped near where the pursuit team had first fought the Sound Four so many years before. This was not what he had hoped to accomplish for so many years. Back in simpler times, he had honestly believed that Sasuke had only been confused. The parallels between Team 7 and the Sannin were all too obvious with hindsight. Like Naruto, Jiraiya had spent too many years thinking that he could bring his friend home before giving in to reality. Sasuke, like Orochimaru before him, had been too far gone for mere words or friendship to sway.

Naruto noticed the ANBU accompanying him were getting nervous standing still in the open for so long, so he continued on his way back home. One of them offered to carry the head but Naruto replied, "No, it's my duty. I'm keeping a promise."

Hours passed as the group traveled. Naruto noticed his face itching the whole time but paid it little mind other than to occasionally scratch. His thoughts were on other things. Near sunset, he landed on the road leading away from Konoha and looked at the damage.

The village wall was shattered in many places that he could see and he assumed that the damage extended to all parts of the wall. It would be a long time before that much was repaired. However, the Hokage Mountain stood untouched and no smoke rose from within the walls. He walked up to the gate and stopped just outside the open doors. He looked down at the head of Sasuke and sighed before stepping across the threshold. 'Well, Sakura-chan, I kept my promise. I brought Sasuke back.'

Kakashi set up an office in the school since that was the place most suitable for an administration center. Naruto walked into the principal's, now Kakashi's office and put the head on the desk

"A little bit of overkill, Naruto? You could have left it in a storage scroll or something," Kakashi said in a low tone.

"The Uchiha might have been the enemy of Konoha, Kakashi but at one time Sasuke was my friend. I needed to do that for the memory of that person. Also, by keeping it out like this, the eyes are completely unusable now. The Sharingan is gone," Naruto replied.

Kakashi pointed to the head and spoke. "His might be gone but don't forget what Sakura told us. The Sharingan is not quite gone. Who knows how many babies there are out there now?"

Naruto scratched at his face once more and brought Kakashi's attention off the head and to Naruto. The Hokage's eyebrows both went up. "Naruto, your face!"

Naruto got a puzzled look on his face and said, "What?"

Kakashi pointed to a mirror on one wall and told Naruto to look into it. The man walked over to it to peer into the silvered glass and took a long look. The heavy burn scars on one side of his face and the criss-crossing cuts on the other side had faded to almost non existence. The six 'whiskers' remained prominent but even they looked faded. As he watched, the cut scars had faded even further.

"How? But the kitsune is gone? I shouldn't be healing those because there should be nothing to heal," he stuttered out.

A knock on the door interrupted the pair as an ANBU peeked in. "Hokage-sama, Uzumaki-san's family is waiting outside." The agent pointed to the head of Sasuke. "Should I take that to Morino-san at T&I?"

Kakashi nodded and passed over the scroll containing the rest of Sasuke's remains as well. The agent vanished with the remains just as a blonde flash ran through the doorway.

"Daddy!!!" cried out Kushina as she slammed into Naruto with a running hug. Hinata and Hizashi followed at a more sedate pace. The blonde child began babbling to Naruto.

"You should have seen it Daddy! Some bad people came by and Mommy kicked their butts. She even put on the scary face that Grandpa and Aunt Hanabi do sometimes. She all like, 'Go!'. Me and Zashi-kun took off while she beat up the bad people. The cook and maid even helped Mommy. I didn't know the sticks in the hall could even do that!"

Naruto was trying to process what his daughter had said in a single breath when she continued on. "Your owies are almost gone too! How did that happen?" He finally just hugged his oldest child when he knew she wouldn't give him a chance to even think about it or get a word in. Naruto stood while hugging the girl and wrapped his other arm around his wife while Hizashi stood by looking strangely pleased.

Hinata kissed her man and gave a smile of her own. "Welcome home, Beloved. Think you can handle another one of these?"

Naruto looked shocked and just nodded before kissing his beautiful wife.

* * *

Tsunade glared at Naruto as she ran her glowing hand over Naruto's face. She was puzzled but had a good idea of why he was healing. She scanned a few other places on his body, mainly his right chest and neck. He had gotten severe wounds there from Sasuke at the first Valley of the End battle and even with the Kyuubi healing those wounds, some trace had remained.

She found no scar tissue or evidence of breakage in either location. She glared once more and finally spoke.

"I can tell you the what but not the how or the why. All the wounds you have ever received are not just healing, they are regenerating. My best guess is the tainted chakra you got back when you released the Kyuubi is causing it. While you have it in your system, it is acting like an artificial bloodline. There is enough demonic chakra in it to hurt the cells but the chakra is healing it the same way."

"But why my face this time, Baa-chan? This didn't happen when the kitsune's chakra got unsealed a few months ago," Naruto said.

"I honestly don't know why, Naruto. There has only been one other case of a jinchuuriki surviving the release of the demon and that was Gaara. I have never examined him so I don't know," she finished with a final answer that left them both unsatisfied.

But I think you should stop shaving off the hair to see how well the healing is going. I do miss the hair," she said with a caring smile.

Naruto grinned. "Hinata told me that one already, Baa-chan. So, am I back on duty again?"

Tsunade lost her smile quickly. "Two days off, no training or I'll schedule you a colonoscopy with no anesthetic."

Naruto paled and grabbed his butt. Thoughts of the Thousand Years of Death technique going on for several hours were definitely enough to make him sit down for two days to prevent it. He scurried out without a single protest.

Tsunade got an evil look on her face. She finally found a way to get Naruto to listen.

* * *

Kakashi sent the formal call for surrender to Sound but he was shocked when the messenger was turned back at the border. The Sound village would not give in to the terms the Alliance was offering. 'Conditional surrender and prosecution of people committing war crimes while leaving the village itself intact' was a generous offer considering they all followed the Uchiha willingly,' the Hokage thought bitterly. 'Now we have to continue to fight and bleed and die in order to stop the worst of the lot from escaping. Storming the main village will cost thousands of lives on both sides. I don't even want to think of the civilian cost. Thousands more will die there in the battlezone.' Kakashi looked at the liquor cabinet in the office and was severely tempted to have a few drinks to at least stop from thinking about this for a few more hours.

"Crap," he muttered. He called in a messenger. "Attacks on Sound Bunkers grid marks A17 and B12 will proceed on schedule. They refused our call to surrender," he told the runner.

"Yes, Hokage-sama," the chunin replied before leaving.

* * *

The bunker assaults turned out to be very costly in terms of lives on both sides. Word finally came out of who the new leader of the Sound was. Suigetsu succeeded the Uchiha with one extremely bad addendum. He was not the Otokage but rather the Regent for the six year old son of Uchiha Sasuke, the Sandaime Otokage Uchiha Itachi. The maroon haired boy was rarely seen but his lineage was obviously Uchiha. Karin was always present when the boy was seen so it was assumed she was the mother of the child. The people of Sound were fanatically loyal to the Uchiha legacy and refused to retreat or give an inch of ground.

Naruto looked at the battlefield and pulled his Wind Kitsune mask back into place. The Alliance managed to finally get the main village of Sound encircled. It had taken over a month of hard fighting since the death of the Uchiha but finally the Sound was cut off from outside help. It had also taught many hard lessons to the ninja world.

Ninja were not suited to open warfare.

Limited battles were one thing but captured towns turned into bloodbaths as hidden ninja forces of the Sound struck from within the population itself. The Alliance was rapidly losing what little moral high ground it had in a series of blunders. The small Smoke village had been assigned to hold a capture farming village. Sound ninja attacked a patrol and the reprisal by Smoke left the town lifeless. They protested that they had not attacked the town but that Sound ninja had done the deed. It did not matter in the end as only the dead remained in the town and they were not telling what had happened there.

War refugees were the second problem. Internal corruption in the civilian system set up to feed them proved to be rampant. Food and supplies marked for the refugees was taken by civilian authorities and sent or sold elsewhere. The daimyo of Rice Fields country had maintained some small authority under the Uchiha and protested the treatment of his citizens long and loud.

The non Alliance countries responded on his side and put pressure on the Alliance. Finish this war soon or back off. Konoha and Suna pushed harder but the Sound resistance increased. A recently captured trade town was retaken in a surprise raid and a flood of supplies rushed into the Sound village for a week before the hole in the blockade could be closed.

Naruto cut off his thoughts and looked at his target. The Sound had the Rice Fields country littered with hidden bunkers that had been bypassed by unknowing Alliance forces. One attack on civilians had come from one hidden base. Team Kitsune was assigned to destroy it. It had taken the Team a week to isolate the base because it was well hidden behind a waterfall.

"Team check in," came the call from Water Kitsune

"Earth ready," replied Ebisu.

"Fire ready," replied Konohamaru.

"Air ready," replied Naruto.

"Like we planned it Team," Iruka signed off.

The plan was to be efficient not subtle. Air rushed the door while Earth used a jutsu to divert the waterfall to one side with a rock wall.

"Fuuton Rasengan!" he cried out as the ball of chakra slammed into the steel reinforced door. Wind chakra cut deep gouges into the metal before the door shattered inwards. Pausing only to pull out kunai, Air Kitsune entered the warren of tunnels followed by Water, Earth and Fire.

Fire and Air took one passage while Earth and Water took another. Sound resistance was lighter than expected but there were no calls for surrender. Time passed as the pairs met up and finished looking for enemies.

A room holding a boy of about age 10 was discovered. The boy was in a cage and crying when the Team found him. Iruka took off his mask and opened the door. He was surprised that it had been unlocked but didn't question it. The boy looked relieved to be freed but that was short lived as he wrapped his arms around Iruka.

"For Uchiha-sama!!!" the boy yelled as he activated hidden explosive tags and blew up both himself and Iruka.

* * *

"You should have been looking for a trap," Kakashi said in a controlled voice.

"The boy couldn't have been more than TEN, _Hokage-sama_," Naruto sneered. "None of us thought to look for a trap."

"Naruto, I was in a war at age 8. Itachi was a chunin at that same age. For ninja, age means nothing. This is a war that none of us wanted and now it is getting bad. The attack that took Iruka was not the only one in the past few days. The other three Kage nations are pushing for us to end this war now. No more waiting. Combined, they have more power than our Alliance and already Smoke has pulled out. If we are not pulling back by then, we have to get a surrender within a week. Any longer and they will declare an Alliance with Sound and make us back off."

Naruto looked down. Iruka was like a father he wished he had had as a boy. If they stopped now his death would only be in vain. "When is the service for Iruka?"

"Tomorrow at sunset," Kakashi replied.

Naruto nodded. "Send a message to all the troops. The gates to Sound will be open at noon tomorrow for the Alliance to accept their surrender."

Kakashi got wary, "Naruto, the Sound has vowed to fight to the last man. They won't surrender."

Naruto glared at Kakashi. "After tomorrow morning, they will."

* * *

The Sound village looked remarkably like Konoha in structure since the Uchiha had it built over the original bunker of Orochimaru. The palace of Uchiha stood in the center and taller than the walls surrounding it. The first glint of sunlight touched the flagpole with the flag of the Uchiha symbol on it.

A toad landed on the wall and dropped a single kunai. There was a flash of yellow light and a man in an orange trench coat stood upon the wall. He made a sign and his voice carried out over the village.

"Ninja of the Sound village, I call upon you to surrender I give you a single hour before I return to accept it." The man then vanished.

The forces of Sound in the village mobilized and were ready for the return of the man who had challenged to rule of the Uchiha and his Heir.

The minutes ticked by until the hour had passed and the man reappeared in the same place. The stubble of blonde hair was apparent in the sunshine as he stood on the wall. Several Sound chunin were close enough to attack him and did so. They were killed with kunai to the throat before they could even throw their own.

Naruto looked coldly out at the Sound ninja arrayed near the wall waiting for a full scale attack. "I ask for your surrender one last time. If I do not get it, I will be forced to make you surrender."

A Sound jonin who was detailed to respond jeered at Naruto, "We are never going to surrender. When your petty nuisance of an Alliance backs off; we will rise once more. We will not surrender to anyone."

"Then I will have to make you change your minds," Naruto said with his head down.

"HA! You and what army?" the jonin scoffed.

Naruto looked at the man with a cold look. His pupils were no longer human. They still were the same cerulean blue but now they have a vertically slit pupil with a horizontal bar in it. He lifted his hands into a cross hand seal and focused.

Chakra smoke ran off in both directions all along the wall of Sound. When it cleared, 10,000 shadow clones stood on the wall. "Me. And this army." The clones all pulled out weapons and jumped down.

The scouts for the Alliance forces found no resistance as they approached the gates of the Sound village. As the first was getting close, the gates swung open. The one Leaf jonin in the group stared as he saw Naruto walk out of an abattoir carrying a bloody black headband.

"They surrender," was all he said to the jonin before Naruto vanished in a flash of yellow light.

* * *

Sunset in Konoha is one of the more beautiful sights in the village. The service for Iruka was well attended as the jonin had shaped many ninja in his years as a teacher in the Academy. Kakashi stood in the front with Anko and her boys. The one notable absence was that of Naruto. Kakashi waited as long as he could but was forced to begin without the blonde.

The people were walking past the picture of Iruka placing flowers on the table when a murmur started in the back of the line.

Walking with a purposeful stride, Naruto was passing everyone to the front of the line. He had not changed and his clothes were covered in blood. The fingernail length of blonde hair on his head was untouched in the light breeze as he stopped at the table. He placed a single headband of the Leaf symbol on the table. The stained black cloth was folded neatly beneath the metal plate. Naruto stepped back and bowed with the respect one would give a daimyo and said "Goodbye, Sensei."

Sakura stood with the rest of the remained of the Konoha 11. She whispered to the others, "That is the headband that Iruka-sensei gave to Naruto after he made genin. It belonged to Iruka before that. But Sasuke had it in Sound."

Naruto then walked over to Kakashi. "The Sound village has surrendered unconditionally. The war is over. I quit," Naruto then strode off without looking back.

Hinata found him hours later at an abandoned shack in the woods outside the wall of Konoha still crying.

* * *

Next: Epilogue

* * *

**End Notes**:  
I decided since this story was so close to ending that I should wrap it up completely instead of working on another one. This chapter was a hard one to write. I realize it shifted into M a few chapters back but I am trying to keep it in the T range as much as possible. Also some events are more vivid when left to the imagination of the reader.

War is not pretty or glamorous. It is an ugly thing that should never happen. But as long as greed and envy live in the hearts of mankind, it will not end. But those who stand in defense of freedom have my utmost respect and I hope none ever need to make that ultimate sacrifice.


	18. Epilogue

Any similarity to the opening chapter is purely intentional

**Naruto: The Lost Ninja: Epilogue**

The ringing sound of a hammer hitting metal rang twice then a softened thump was heard. The ringing sounded twice again with another soft thump following. The daily sounds of the smithy were a timeless comfort to the old man wielding the heavy hammer. More blows followed before the man took a needed break. He set the half made sword into the coals to remain warm while he stepped out into the cool evening.

'Another day and I can have that sword finished. The daimyo will get his order on time. The wife will be pleased.'

The smith looked out at the mountain valley that was his home. His badly wrinkled face relaxed as the evening breeze seemed to promise rain. He looked at the sleeping form of his ten-year-old great-grandson and decided he would not need to wake the boy to stoke the forge again tonight. The coals would keep the metal fine until morning. He lifted the boy and walked into the house. The old man placed the boy into his bed and lay down to get a few hours of needed sleep

* * *

The following morning, the old man took note of the date. They would be here soon. It was Remembrance Day. The day all the Uzumaki would gather at the home of the oldest living member. With the passing of his older sister, the duty fell to him.

He looked down the long winding way toward the head of the valley and saw them coming from a long way off. There were many new members since the last gathering five years ago. Some had married. More children bring carried along as the Clan came together.

A sense of sadness welled up in Uzumaki Minato that he would likely never see this again. He could feel the long years creeping up on him and knew he was not long for the world. Even so he had to smile at the gathering about to happen. His father, Naruto, had lived alone for his childhood. He would be pleased to see so many of his family coming together to Remember.

Some writers of history were not kind to Naruto. They only saw the surface, 'The Butcher of the Sound'. But the truth was that while he had killed nearly the entire ninja force of Sound, he had not committed any atrocities. All the people who died had been wearing the headband of the Sound as ninja. After killing more ninja in an hour than even his father, Naruto knew he would never be named Hokage. He walked away from that life and came back to this valley in the mountains to mold steel and be away from things. His wife Hinata had come with him and his children. Minato had been born here seven months after that and had never known another home.

Only Hinata knew her husband's pain. His few sleeping hours each night were tormented by the deed he committed. But she stood with the man she loved and ruthlessly cut down any bounty hunter who came looking to collect the emperor's ransom on his head. It was strange that if Hinata had not protected Naruto, the bounty hunters would have had an easy kill. Naruto would not have protected himself. Eventually the bounty hunters stopped coming to collect. The 'scarecrow' tree in front of the forge might have had something to do with that. After each mercenary that came, Hinata added something from that mercenary to it. As a teen, Minato counted the individual items hung on the tree. His mother shooed him away from it after he had counted two hundred items and he had not finished.

In spite of his desire to remove himself from his life as a ninja, Naruto would not deny his children. Uzumaki Kushina and Uzumaki Hizashi had returned to Konoha at age ten to train for their own futures. In time, Kushina had become a greater medic and healer than her mentors, the legends Senju Tsunade and Haruno Sakura. The reputation of the Uzumaki would recover due to her life spent in service. The Blonde Angel of Mercy would never turn away any injured party. Ironically enough, the daughter had healed many injuries inflicted on bounty hunters by her mother; the bounty hunters that had left the valley alive at any rate.

Hizashi did not need to take over the Hyuuga as Hanabi had children after the war. In his own time, he grew in power and ability and eventually took the title of Eighth Hokage of Konoha, succeeding Sarutobi Konohamaru. Seeing his son attain what he had wanted for his entire youth was the only time Naruto had left the valley from the time of the war until his death.

Minato remained in the valley, learning the trade of his father. His sharp eyes from his Byakugan could detect any flaw in a weapon at a glance and people from the far corners of the Elemental Countries came to him for weapons. The old man looked at the wall of the forge. On it hung the sashes of his predecessors; his father, grandfather, Namikaze Minato, and great-grandfather. Beside those hung the five generations of sashes of the line of Naruto's adoptive father, Kama. It spite of its seeming humble status, there were always Uzumaki who would return to take up the trade. The man smiled at the sashes of his own daughter and grandson displayed on the wall.

Konoha had survived and grown once the threat of the Uchiha had been lifted. Ninja found a golden age of peace uncomfortable. But even without the open warfare of a full Ninja War, there was never a lack of business.

Tsunade had lived to be ninety before she finally got too tired of keeping up her youth genjutsu. The idea that her Creation Rebirth jutsu would shorten her life turned out false. All of her use of healing jutsu had made her own body rejuvenate some each time. She ended up dying half drunk on her 100th birthday.

Kakashi never really took to the job of Hokage even after Naruto left. He waited until Konohamaru was old enough and stepped down to take up the trade of writer. Icha Icha: The Next Generation was a huge success for him but there were forever comparisons between the writers in the captain's chair.

Lee and Sakura eventually married. Sakura had wanted to use the name of Peach for her first daughter but Lee convinced her to use the more traditional Momo. Once grown, their children became well known for both the massive strength and taijutsu along with the pink hair that bred true in the passing generations.

Neji and Tenten married and raised a small family within the Hyuuga clan. The only son was deadly with thrown kunai and his Spinning Porcupine Technique was feared in close combat.

Minato looked up to his wife as she interrupted his thoughts. The woman's brown hair had long faded to gray but he always only saw the brown. The Uzumaki would never be a clan content to conform. He looked at the riot of hair and eye colors of his children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews and their descendants. Byakugan in various tints, every eye color, hair in brown, black, blonde, red and even a pink haired grand nephew in law graced the crowd of his family. Some of Naruto's twelve grandchildren were grandparents already. He would be glad to see all of his descendants in one place like this. The Uzumaki tended toward large families.

* * *

"I welcome all of you here to our home. We are all here to Remember," Minato spoke in a loud voice.

The clan grew quiet.

"We Remember Uzumaki Naruto, the Second Yellow Flash, The Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko. The Protector of Konoha. The one who defeated the Uchiha. He dreamed that he could be Hokage. He gave up his dream so that Konoha would stand after his first and most Precious Person fell."

"We Remember Umino Iruka. The first man to acknowledge Naruto. His passing brought about the destruction of the Sound at Naruto's hand."

"We Remember Uzumaki Hinata, my mother and Matriarch of the Clan. She stood alone in her faith in Naruto before anyone else and long after most had given up. She was seen as a failure for being too caring but that very kindness gave her vast courage to defend the ones she cared for."

"We Remember the scourge of the Uchiha. The clan that set the Kyuubi no Yoko on Konoha in the first place thereby sealing their own demise. Word from the monasteries is that the final Uchiha child born in the Sound has passed on without issue. The Uchiha are finally dead."

Minato paused for a moment to remember silently at that point. Naruto had not killed any of the children or civilians in Sound. When the Alliance took the control of the surrendered village, all the Uchiha plots were freely revealed to the world. The breeding program that Sasuke had begun revealed no less than fifty seven living children born from him by almost as many mothers. More than a dozen more including Sakura's had been killed at birth for various reasons than no one else found worthwhile. Every effort was made that the entire Uchiha legacy was found and dealt with.

People would not simply kill the Uchiha's children out of hand but something needed to be done. Several religious orders stepped up at this point with an idea. All Uchiha children were separated and taken to different monasteries and temples. They were treated well but never once allowed out. The youngest were never told of their heritage and they lived lives in peaceful isolation. None were allowed children. Minato had been told the last child had died the previous winter. The world sighed with relief at that news.

Nine tailed beasts could be dealt with as individuals but a single one consisting of the Nine as a single being would have doomed them all. With no Uchiha, the key element needed in freeing the Juubi would never again exist, the now feared Sharingan eye.

Minato looked back up. He smiled to his clan, his family. "We have Remembered. Now, it's time to catch up with everyone." The Uzumaki all cheered and dug into the vats of ramen that were waiting.

* * *

Elsewhere, a much smaller gathering was taking place.

A gray haired man looked at the half dozen people before him. "We are few in number but we are strong in purpose. In time, we shall have our revenge on the hated Uzumaki, the murderers of the Uchiha. The last captive has died. We are diminished but not destroyed. We wait only for the proper time."

The old man and his descendants before him focused their chakra and as one activated their Sharingan eyes.

* * *

**End Notes:  
**I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to read this story. It has not been an easy story to write. At times I had trashed large amounts of writing due to things that did not work out. But putting complete on this story is something I am glad has come. Other ideas pull at me and in time they could find an outlet here. Until then, my other stories need attention.

Ed


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